Dingdongler

I know there have been corrections in many parts of the country since 2008 but London and the home counties have been relatively spared (in nominal terms anyway)

I'm beginning to see drops in the last few months even in desirable areas.

Is this just a seasonal issue or will 2012 be the year we really see property price falls? With wages stagnant, the euro crumbling, gdp stagnant, banks wobbling, is the sticky plaster that's been used finally coming off?

davyboy

We're doomed.

To be honest who cares? I need somewhere to live.

Dingdongler

I care in so much as timing my investment decisions

scoobeenut

Well that is the problem, people see property as an investment and not a home.

f1_fan

iTrader: (9)

Hang on, why shouldn't property be an investment, what makes it any different to anything else?

Strikes me certain people on here have a chip on their shoulder about others doing well quite honestly!

Not sure about the answer to your question DD, but next year is going to be bad for the Eurozone countries as a lot of their debts come up for repayment so if their economies tank even further is there not a chance a lot of the investors over there may move further into property here (although we have debt issues... our loans are more long term).

PaulC72

2012 the year of high interest rates on mortgages amongst other things.

Jamescsti

As above not overly bothered I have a house with a mortgage I am comfortable with so it's all good.
As for investment it depends on how long an investment you are looking at property pretty much always goes up in the long term.

what would scooby do

I posted this on 18th October:

https://www.scoobynet.com/non-scooby...l#post10288319

jef

iTrader: (13)

im another one with a completley lower end/affoardable mortgage.

so doesnt bother me atall,

house being less than 2 years of annual wage.

so glad we didnt get talked into taking the 150k i was offered and opted for the 70k -instead, happy days lol

Dingdongler

Interesting. The wife of a colleague is a property developer working in prime central London postcodes, she says something similar. But she says (and it makes sense) this will only protect the very top London postcodes ie Mayfair, Knightsbridge etc as we go forward

She tells me Chinese, Indians, Russians, Arabs, Italians regularly want to pay her for multi million pound flats/houses in cash. They still all see prime London property as a safe haven. But this micro economy doesn't apply to you and me

f1_fan

iTrader: (9)

Yes agreed, but I guess I was just wondering if more investors would move in and smaller investors too hence propeties more in a realistic price range might be affected.... but, as you say, even if that happens it's still probably a micro economy.

Chip

I have a rental property which I bought at the peak. Although it is at the moment worth sbout £10k less than I paid for it it still provides me with an income of around £250/month after all outgoings and luckily has never been unnocupied so I'm not particularly worried about it.

LSherratt

iTrader: (1)

I am 21 years old and have bought my own house 2 months ago, purley as an investment. Due to my job within my Dads buisness, I live with my parents still and don't intend to live in it. It's a tidy 2 bed terrace and achieve £520/per month before all the usual cuts.

In my opinion, yes, house prices are going to rise and I feel as if I've bought at a good time. It's becoming more and more common for people unable to afford a deposit to put down on a house and a mortgage, which results in people having to rent instead, therefore never being able to save for a house and are stuck in the cycle. I believe that rent prices will rise even more even though some say that they have already reached their peak. There will be a huge demand for rental properties. Ofcourse, some experts will agree with all this while others will disagree.

I put all my savings into it for the deposit and see it as a hugely better investment than a building society. In 20 years, the rent that it achieves will have paid off the mortgage and the whole house will be mine, plus the additional increase/inflation it will have also made. I have estimated and worked out very reasonably that if I sold it after those 20 years, I will have made £86000 on it compared to what... £20000 if I kept my money in the hands of a bank/savings account?

davyboy

Don't forget to take income tax in to consideration.

Dingdongler

I genuinely hope it works out for you mate but I doubt we will see real house price rises in the next 3 years. But as you seem to have a long term perspective I'm sure you will do fine.

The reason I posted this thread is that I feel next year we will see falls in most areas and so for me that would be the time to invest. I could of course be completely wrong, I often am lol

Leslie

Since the country is in a perilous situation as far as the economy is concerned, and life is going to get much more expensive, won't the price of property go down as the market drops out?

Les

GlesgaKiss

I think you could be right. That could work out well for me, providing I still have work and money coming in!

Indecisiveness will probably cost me in the end, because I'm torn between leaving money in stocks and holding it in cash with the intention of buying a house. When house prices are at their lowest, stock prices will probably have taken quite a dive as well.

LSherratt

iTrader: (1)

The house prices might fall a bit within the next 2 years, but it wont be by a large amount if they do. But in the long term they will rise. Despite this, it was only about a fortnight ago where I saw in the Daily Express (front page) about house prices currently rising each month. As you can see it's pretty much all swings and roundabouts and no one truely knows what will happen for sure until it just happens by itself.

Even though people are finding it tough to get onto the ladder and buy their first house, the way the population is growing, there will ALWAYS be a demand for housing. As mentioned, I bought my first house 2 months ago at the age of 21 with a "buy-to-let" mortgage because I see it as an investement and don't intend to live in it (live with parents still), and I believe there is going to be a greater demand for these smaller type properties on a "buy-to-let" basis, with investors such as myself able to buy them and stick the rent up high which people HAVE to pay because they can't afford a deposit on a house.

Either way, whether you're looking to buy a house to live in, or buying a house intending to rent it out, there needs to be property in order to fullfil both of these; the population is growing and outstripping the housing available so there's only one direction the prices can go- and thats up.

On another note due to you mentioning stocks and shares, I don't know much about them but stocks and shares is a very risky way to go as they chop and change all the time? If I was told to put some money into stock, I would put it straight away in gold as I know for a fact that gold is rising, however gold always seems to rise when the economy isn't doing very well (weird that).

Chip

Well of course

john banks

You're probably right Deep, the only reason I bought was because I saw an interesting property of the type I'd been looking for for 5 years (although today after working on it outside I wonder about the joys of a sprawling old stone barn up a windy hill with zero shelter, especially when recent winds have been fierce enough to drive water under the door thresholds so I have to upgrade them to severe weather ones!), it gave a business opportunity, and got my money out of the banks. The Nationwide also claim that the average Scottish property is only about 3.3x the average single full time income.

If I was buying with mainly borrowed money or hadn't seen something I really liked on which the seller wanted to deal but would ordinarily have had a lot of competition to buy, I wouldn't have bothered.

billythekid

We have been hammering our mortgage for the last 5 years ish. Its not huge anyway but i can see rates going higher in the next few years so want to get it paid off. If they don't go higher it just means we saved on the interest anyway while rates are so low. So its a win win. My ifa advised against it when we started instead trying to push pension products... turns out he now thinks its a reasonable idea so can't be that bad.

stevebt

iTrader: (8)

I have said it since the start of the recession and I can't see them dropping much more, the only way it may happen is if they do 15% interest rates and that will just kill the whole country so it will never happen. The BBC news reckon things will improve from 2013 but I can't see it happening that early myself?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15968051

kingofturds

iTrader: (1)

If interest rates rise then a lot of btl investors who are currently hanging on by the skin of their teeth are going to go bust.

dpb

Hopefully , like sherret/aka lewis

stilover

I hope so, as most of the house builders round here won't budge much on price. I've repeatedly offered a builder to buy a brand new house off him for £25k less than asking. Which in today's market isn't asking too much.

Every time his answer is "No. Come and see me the day you sign the deeds over on your property. Then I'll listen to offers"

How many people are willing to be homeless before they speak to a house builder? Not many. If they did, the builder would simple no budge yet again, stating your homeless. But this or remain homeless.

This builder has had half his plots empty for the last 2 years. Due to planning law, he's had to start building phase 2. Yet he still won't budge on his prices on Phase 1. Crackers

pslewis

Houses are selling fast in the South East .... sadly, as I wanted to buy.

njkmrs

I would say most Prudent BTLers are quite comfortable with things at the moment and some will be expanding their Portfolios due to low interest rates and high demand from Renters .

stevebt

iTrader: (8)

There is your problem, offering £25k less on a property that already has been revalued due to current situation. The house builder may want sales but they are not stupid, those properties will sell so if they have the cash sitting on them a little longer won't hurt.

stilover

They've been the same price for over 2 years, and none are sold. The first half were sold while still in the Boom years.

LSherratt

iTrader: (1)