[Genie]

I've logged on to see if there is any good news on this thread, and it sounds like things are still in that stationary place. I've got my fingers crossed for everyone waiting to sell, it's got to happen!!

[Red Devil]

Hmmm, looks like we've been thrown deeper into the land of limbo... French agent has confirmed that the English couple who have viewed our farmhouse for the second time are 'extremely keen' however they will not put in an offer until their mortgage application/offer is through from the Bank... now France grinds to a halt for the whole month of July, so looks like we'll just have to sit it out until August to hear something :roll

Good luck all :nice1

[victoria24]

we had a good viewing on Saturday so fingers crossed for tommorrow

[Janey]

I agree with you Nicky our house is unusal in its an upside down house with bedrooms on both floors so novice agents have a hard time when they open a door and do not know whats behind it even with the floor plans it makes me so cross. I have insited with all our agents that they send round several of their staff so they know what they are selling this had not happened with the new agent until we pushed the open home and the lady who is doing that thought she had better see what she is selling give me strength! lets hope for a positive week no bad press etc

[Alan]

After having the same people buy twice and then their buyers fall through we are in the same boat as most. As has been said many times on here already, thew agents do not seem particularly capable, and in a difficult market seem solely able to sell on price.

We have reduced by £10K already and they want us to reduce by a further £25K when we are already below what we bought it for two years ago.

I guess when and if I get a job offer that will force our hand as to refuse a stupid low offer may make things worse in the long wrong as we will still have to pay a mortgage whilst waiting to sell and we just want to go and start making our new life.

As NZ houses are also going down in value I guess this is not the worst situation it could be.

[thewoodies]

The only problem with taking a really low offer is -

If it does go wrong in NZ and you do need to come back you might not be able to buy your own house back???

Or you could look at it a different way prices could crash and if your money is in the bank you could get a bargain????

If we only we knew which way to jump.

In the 1990s i was living abroad came back pregnant to a one bedroom flat that was £60,000 in 1987 but had to sell it for 52,000 in 1993 £8000 less! However we could then afford HOUSE that would have been £90000 in 1987 for £60000 in 1993?!! its all relative - people say the problem occurs when people move abroad and there is a difference in movements of economy in other countries. So maybe if we all have to rent out our houses it will be better in the long run - who knows! Saying that though our £60,000 mortgage cost us over £600 a month when interest rates went sky high and we sat in negative equity for YEARS !!!!

That probably is extremly unhelpful , sorry and a bit depressing :wah

Our positive viewing on Saturday , she now says she isnt sure !!!!:uhoh
She hasnt sold yet anyway!!!:(

[Janey]

My current mortgage is of such a larger enough nature that there is no way renting it would cover the cost let alone management fees, gardeners etc I would need or times of the property being empty, let alone tennants not paying or trashing the place. I have rented out before and NEVER again. I also have freinds that rented out through a property management company and the tennant never paid so it took 9 mths to evict them plus court costs and to top it all the tennant trashed the place it is not an easy option and certainly not when you are 12000 miles away.

We are lucky in some ways as we have made a fiar amount on the property so what we drop we have never realised also I need a job to get a visa so there is no use applying for a job until we have sold. If we are refused entry then we will be sitting tight in rented and have the choice of the bunch where ever we end up but it is still frustrating! and we are fed up of having to ensure the house is spic and span before we leave every day.

[thewoodies]

janey - sounds like selling is best option for you? THis whole process is very stressful - my OH did all the application forms etc as i was just concentrating on being pregnant giving birth etc - so didn't really get stressed about that part of the process - the selling thing is really getting to me.:(

If we rent we will have insurances, for things that could go wrong and we leave a contingency plan fund in the bank which should hopefully cover any gaps or repairs etc. Its expensive but worth every penny. I have rented out property before and have had to take money off peoples deposits for broken cooker, stained carpet etc. we will leave it totaly unfurnished then less can go wrong and you are liable for less.:nice1

[thewoodies]

update on last viewing - estate agent has now suggested we swap our house for last viewers two bedroom house that way we could release some capital .:D

Estate agent must surely know the rental return per pound on a four bed here is better than a two bed ????(house just round the corner) ours is in perfect condition - with all the cost of moving solicitors etc the difference wouldnt be worth it!!!:mad:

She cant be the fairy - she must be an imposter????

She didnt even know what the rental would be on out property - she said its because she is in sales! And she is the Manager!!!!!!!! aaagh!!!!!

Rant over just off to watch neighbours :exit

[thewoodies]

how many SOLD signs have you seen near you - i have seen 3 and 2 agreed let:nice1

[Red Devil]

Our French estate agent is still dangling a carrot in front of us (or should that be an onion) ;)... he's hoping the English couple who've viewed our property twice are going to get their mortgage offer through soon and so make an offer on our farmhouse. I've told him we're not waiting forever and that we're ready to reduce by €20,000 to get a sale during summer... but like I say, he's still holding out for things to happen with the English couple and wishes the price to remain fixed until he hears from the Bank. I guess he's only looking after our interest, as French estate agents are on a fixed commission basis rather than the UK's percentage of house sale.

Having said that, how longs a piece a string :roll

Good luck all :nice1

[Hejwitch_uk]

House went on market on Friday, now waiting for viewers the same as everyone else!! Our medicals have been referred by our case officer, so everything is stressful, but looking on the positive side, we didn't want to wait any longer before putting that "For Sale" sign up.

[Rusty]

House went on market on Friday, now waiting for viewers the same as everyone else!! Our medicals have been referred by our case officer, so everything is stressful, but looking on the positive side, we didn't want to wait any longer before putting that "For Sale" sign up.

Welcome to the house thread now you are on the market.
Are you a good witch and can you cast positive spells to sell?
Also, if you sell 1st, we will all put a spell on you ;):D

Good luck with the medicals and your application.

[Mels]

Got a viewing tomorrow, frantically cleaning up as haven't needed to do so for a while.
Apparently nothing to sell!!!!

Fingers crossed and pleeeeease Missy Fairy spread some dust in our direction :)

Mels

[victoria24]

our 3 double bed detached bungalow with large garage, 22ft front room, dining room, home gym with 3 bathrooms for 282500 in cornwall with countryside views....

guess the viewers feedback...

TOO SMALL!!!

[thewoodies]

Had an idea we could set up a house swap nz to uk. People on thread who want to come home could put there property on thread and we could then all bid to swap????

No estate agent fees???

We could set up a site feduptryingtosell:cheersbay.

[Carey]

Got a viewing tomorrow, frantically cleaning up as haven't needed to do so for a while.
Apparently nothing to sell!!!!

Fingers crossed and pleeeeease Missy Fairy spread some dust in our direction :)

Mels

Good, good luck! All fingers and toes crossed.

[Mels]

Thanks Carey,

I have just done 500 post so clicked over to being a 'senior' on the forum. After the last 6 months I definately feel I have aged :exit

Mels

[Janey]

Good Luck Mels!

Victoria we had a viewing like that 4 bed 2 bath 2 reception room large garage and workshop too small (but then it was 4 adults and 4 children looking what did they expect) heres hoping for a viewing I can not remember what they are do I have to tidy up remove the graffetti and chewing gum (only joking ) I think my hoover will be worn out before if goes in the container (we hoover every day the dog hairs just in case):exit

[Hejwitch_uk]

Welcome to the house thread now you are on the market.
Are you a good witch and can you cast positive spells to sell?
Also, if you sell 1st, we will all put a spell on you ;):D

Good luck with the medicals and your application.

Hi Rusty, I most definitely am, and the least I can do is send some positives out to you all:) Especially to you Mels with your pending viewer..... :nice1

[victoria24]

the funniest thing janey (and oh how fortunate i wore my corset to save the cracking ribs) was that ours were a couple in their late 40's with 2 grown up kids, 1 in the navy and the other at uni!!!
amazingly, the agents feedback didnt capture any more in depth interrogation other than "too small"

[peebles16]

Still thinking of you all here and feeling your pain :yes
I keep checking in and send posivibes to you all - best of luck and hopefully we'll be laughing round the BBQ soon enough :D

Karenx

[Andy-Dee]

Tnx Karen - I feel the love, ta muchly - gonna concentrate on our trip in August and stop worrying about viewers / buyers for a while.:nice1

[catt]

Reduced by £10k yesterday .....oh hum

[victoria24]

good news!!

http://www.mortgageintroducer.com/ccstory/230781/4/House_prices_drop.htm

[Alan]

Mmmm not sure. We bought our house two years ago for £280,000 we dropped the original asking price from £285,000 to £275,000 and now yes we get offers but according to the agent all the people can only afford £250,000 and no more, that is over a 12% drop in a few months.

Not sure what we are going to do but selling for £30K less than we bought it two years ago would really hurt and I just think there are a lot of people trying their luck right now.

Yours confused.

PS
Views appreciated

[smitjo]

So close yet so far.....last viewers had house shortlisted but decided to put an offer in on another place. Two viewings since May....urgh!

[JandM]

Hang in there - maybe their offer on the other one won't be accepted.

[victoria24]

alan, youve got to remember that while agents are still talking the market up, they only earn when a sale completes so strike a positive/deffo sale balance. the answer as always is somewhere inbetween!

[Alan]

Well we had another agent around this morning, who said that the market was "brutal" and "bloody" and he saw it getting quit a bit worse before it gets better. They have shut offices, let people go etc.

His view was that he wouldn't be able to get more than £250,000 in the current climate and he actually thought there was a risk it would get worse yet in the coming months/years. So his parting shot was that he knew he was talking himself out of business, but if he was in our shoes he would bite the bullet and get on with our new lives.

To sum up we have accepted £250,000 now (£30K less than we paid) on the condition that there is exchange in 4 weeks. so let the fun begin I guess.

[victoria24]

make sure you negotiate a fee reduction if no deals tied up in 4 weeks to test the agents real commitment :-)

[Alan]

Good idea Victoria, I have already asked them to waive the HIP fee, and they were already on 1.5%

[victoria24]

id go for 1% thereafter if they dont sell in 4 weeks, if they object you could pull the old "are you saying you're not confident of a 4 week sale at 250k now?" stunt :-)

[Mels]

Hi

Well they were here an hour, asked sensible questions and said they liked it, but I know they are very polite people and would say that anyway so we'll wait and see.
Just as they were going I got a phone call - the private school up the road were having sports day and they had all parked down our road and jammed the junction - great just what I needed. It only happens once a year why today.. :(:wah

We'll just have to keep our fingers crossed.

Mels

[thewoodies]

Alan - be careful its not the 80s again! interest rates are not that high.
I get the impretion that people are too nervous to move at the moment, it depends on oil prices etc Estate agents are getting desperate i reckon they will tell you anything - on what did he base his view the market is going to get worse? I think the market is stagnent but no one knows if it will get worse.:(
But if you can afford the drop - good luck with your move:raebanana

[Alan]

Alan - be careful its not the 80s again! interest rates are not that high.
I get the impretion that people are too nervous to move at the moment, it depends on oil prices etc Estate agents are getting desperate i reckon they will tell you anything - on what did he base his view the market is going to get worse? I think the market is stagnent but no one knows if it will get worse.:(
But if you can afford the drop - good luck with your move:raebanana

I do know what you mean, but I having two possible job offers waiting in a very tight marker sector, and I am not in a fortunate position to be able to apply for PR later without a job.

However although rates are not as high there are as you alluded to a lot of other factors going on at present:

- There is an undercurrent of rising employment and we shouldn't underestimate how much the stagnant housing market will play in that as it is a huge employer.
- There are far few buyers, I did research on it this morning and also on the number of sales with the land registry and even before the last couple of months the number of sales has fallen off a cliff, and we are in an alledgedly very sought after area due to schooling.
- Oil prices and the associated prices that are going along with them are escalating rapidly and frankly they are not going to come down by the same magnitude that they have gone up

This agent was a competitor of the one we are with and is perhaps the biggest and most extended in the area, however rather than take the business he was telling us to give the business to someone else.

Additionally, he said that there are many repossessions because the people that have to move due to personal circumstances are not able to sell for one reason or another and cannot take the drop.

Further to this he cited a property he had that had dropped by the same order, and the fact that flats that have been built like they are going out of fashion are really getting hit and some are seeing percentage reductions of over 20%.

You are right though that you take your choice, for us we have two boys 8 and 11 and if we wait it may get worse it may get better, but it could take a couple of years and then our older boy would be really attached to here, whereas now they both want to go, and frankly I doubt the timing will ever be right.

In short for everyone else I hope the market doesn't sink like is being said, for us I hope we have made the right call.

[thewoodies]

Yes im sure you have - your in a lucky position to have a job :raebanana

Just think about what opportunities your giving your kids - more than money can buy here:cheers

[victoria24]

alan, i think that in your case the benefit outweighs the risk by taking decisive action.
the repo data is not entirely correct. there are not large numbers of "distressed sales" at the moment although they may be round the corner. also large developers are slowing down thus restricting supply onto the market which should bolster prices.
it appears that last month the rpi index was up as people continue to spend on the high street. this is because credit card approvals are up due to the fact that people who usually use their house as a bank have sourced money from this avenue. it will all come to an end at some point but for now the market is fairly resilient.
our house is on for 282500 (valued last year at 295000) with a view to accepting 275000. if we were in a rush to go now, i think i would make the same decision as you but can sit and wait. the downside of course is a large crash and i'll wish i got shot at 250k!!!
good luck with the quick sale, keep us all updated.
neil

[thewoodies]

just a thought does anyone know if you can use your house as colateral against a mortgage in NZ? ANZ offer a service where you can arrange a mortgage before you go? Surely you would have to have held down a job for a while? Your house here could be buy to let? I really dont know thanks:D

[Alan]

Cheers guys, I guess like all things there is no definitive right or wrong but what suits you in any given situation.

[Janey]

Alan
look at it this way we started at £375 now on 3 drops later for £319,950 we have a 4 bed house and the open home is stating buyers offers over £275 I would be happy if we had an offer ball part £280-£300k having lost 2 jobs I feel very fed up and trapped, I need a job for PR. We approached a cash buying place when we were on for £335k for £250k you wonder sometimes if we should have taken it we could be there by now. incidently we bought for £205k nearly 5 yrs ago

[Alan]

Janey, what a complete mess and I think you are stunning to even vaguely keep it all together because I am not sure I would have. When is your open home?

I really really wish something happen to allow you to move on with your dreams.

[thewoodies]

janey what stress!! How have you managed to keep positive - i admire you.

You definately need the FAIRY NEXT!!!!!:clap

[sasvanb]

My goodness! Reading this thread just makes my stomach churn! :confused:

My OH and I just put our house on the market this week, so it's very early days... We're in Scotland and we keep getting told things aren't quite as bad here as down south, but I'm not so sure... It's very nerve wracking! And we've just had our Visa application approved in principle today! :raebanana

Keeping my fingers crossed for everyone...

[thewoodies]

sasvanab - welcome to the thread and good luck with your house sale:cheers

[victoria24]

the Scottish market is more buoyant than England but the funding issue is the same for all the uk.
one of my agents is thinking of cancelling our contract as apparently I'm a nightmare due to the fact that I call them to get viewing feedback, stats as promised and ask when we will next be in the paper! like to tell them to ram it but that could be counter productive. but then with that attitude, are they motivated to sell our house anyway?!

[sasvanb]

the Scottish market is more buoyant than England but the funding issue is the same for all the uk.
one of my agents is thinking of cancelling our contract as apparently I'm a nightmare due to the fact that I call them to get viewing feedback, stats as promised and ask when we will next be in the paper! like to tell them to ram it but that could be counter productive. but then with that attitude, are they motivated to sell our house anyway?!

Deary me... your agent sounds rubbish. Ours has been good so far, already amended details and photos we weren't happy with, and has given us a fixed fee price. Also has promised to phone me with viewing feedback... tho we haven't had any yet! :roll

I'm hoping to be able to tell you soon whether the market here really is more buoyant or not... Our problem is we're really aiming for first timers with our house, and you're right, funding is the major problem... :uhoh

[IanR]

Maybe anyone in the UK selling a property ought to download a little programme called property bee and use it to monitor local prices via Rightmove.
It has been so successful that they are having to move servers this week but you can still download the add on for firefox... http://www.property-tools.co.uk/toolbar/download/

I sold here (Huddersfield) earlier this month - but only because I was realistic on price - I had to take 12% off of the price I would have got last year... still you get to move on with your life and face less stress..

[thewoodies]

OMG - WEVE DONE IT (no not sold - YET!!!!!????) but we have booked our flights for end of december - we did it last night I was almost shaking - we pressed the send button together :D

We are going to leave our house on the market until the last minute - if it hasnt sold we are going to had it over to our (GOOD) estate agents letting department - we will watch the market and tell them to sell when time is right. We have already dropped the price £15K and we are open to offers - we had an offer £40 ,000 less than new asking price - we would rather rent than sell it for that.

Have woken up today feeling heaps better :raebanana IM SO EXCITED:clap

Now ive got LOTS to do. :cheers

Im not "sitting on the dock of the bay wastiing time" anymore - see thread ---- what song best sums up your stage of the process!!!!!

[Red Devil]

I reckon based on the current climate with the housing market in the UK, the vast majority of folk will be 'forced' down the route of renting out, either that or accepting daft offers from buyers... now that WILL have a massive impact on property prices :eek:

[Rusty]

We had 2 rental agents around this morning and will sign contracts with them tomorrow. Don't like the idea, but if it lets us actually get to NZ then so be it...

[Mrs TW]

same as us Rusty. We had a letting agent round tonight and got another one coming in the morning. I feel uncertain about it. It would definately mean we could get there quicker but with no collateral/ savings or anything in fact!:uhoh

Dilema dilema. If only we had a crystal ball.

[Rusty]

same as us Rusty. We had a letting agent round tonight and got another one coming in the morning. I feel uncertain about it. It would definately mean we could get there quicker but with no collateral/ savings or anything in fact!:uhoh

Dilema dilema. If only we had a crystal ball.

I wish I had a gold ball instead, could sell that :D

[Belmont Babes]

the woodies, pleased for you, good on ya :nice1

To all, still checking in and sending posivibes as usual. :yes

Nat X

[Andy-Dee]

Really pleased for the Woodies, who is getting the fairy next - I sent her to Shropshire to Mrs TG.

[Alan]

Good to see you are feeling better Woodies, I had a rotten day the other day on this rollercoaster, but now feel really good again too!

[Mrs TW]

I wish I had a gold ball instead, could sell that :D

You're not kidding:laugh

[Mrs TW]

Yep I have received the fairy Andy-dee.

Who wants or is line for her next? PM me your address and I will send her on her way!

[holland]

How many people are with the fairy now? Has everyone put pics in?
I am intrigued!

[macuser]

Well we've supplied new photos to the agent to update the property details and are going to list on a private house selling site this week.

I am getting lower & lower with all this. We've had no viewings for 6 weeks or so, at least when we had viewings I could just about keep positive. This is just awful. I've spent the last 2 days crying proper tears, my poor hubby doesn't know what to do.........he's not good with emotions!

Anyone had any luck with or got any advice re private property selling sites?

Sorry to moan so much, we're all in the same boat I know, but that doesn't seem to stop the tears at the moment.

Helen:wah:wah:wah

[Andy-Dee]

How many people are with the fairy now? Has everyone put pics in?
I am intrigued!

The fairy is plump and pretty as a picture, everyone has made a contribution so far so there are about 10 bits. One was damaged during the great 'post box' and 'defiled envelope' incident but otherwise all is well.

I can't wait to send her home to you at some point Holland but I suggest she spend Christmas with you in the meanwhile - spread some special NZ sand over her.

It sounds as if Masuser could do with her next. Had a great North West meet today really cheered me up - thank you my house sellers buddies.

[Kerry and David]

Hi Everyone..

Been away for the week and just catching up on the thead - well done for booking the flights Woodies - we are going to do the same re renting if it gets to the last minute and we haven't sold.

Still no viewings here:no

Looking back over the thread I think I was down for a visit from the fairy next - let me know when she is ready for a trip on the M3:p

Thank goodness for this thread as it's good to know others are in the same boat about the house selling business. I am really down about the whole thing at the moment. I really don't want to rent as we want to go to NZ with a clean slate but hey ho - lets see what happens:uhoh

K xx

[thewoodies]

We have had a last ditched attempt and have reduced our asking price a further £10,000 thats £25,000 less than original asking price. After reading Alans posts we decided perhaps we might get a sale if we drop.

Had hassel getting agent to reduce their fee - but OH rang them and they did it for him and not for me - i did go in smashing the door with my baby's buggy and an interupting 3 year old!!!:D

The estate agent rang me back with new figure and started conversation " i know the housing market is cr*p at the moment......" Yep that about sums t up.:D

Good luck everyone else

[Kerry and David]

Yep I have received the fairy Andy-dee.

Who wants or is line for her next? PM me your address and I will send her on her way!


Have pm'd my address to you

K x

[IanR]

" Well the headline number has already hit the headlines. Only 42,000 people got a mortgage to buy a house last month. Which is a very low number indeed. It is of course 64% lower than a year ago, lower than at any time since monthly figures began in 1993, and both the quarterly equivalent (126k) and the last 3 months worth (163k) are lower than the lowest quarterly figure in Q4 1992 (191k), three years into the last housing crash whilst this one is barely a year old - on present figures we are on course for around 120 - 150k for Q2 which will be a clear record. We can use quarterly CML figures as a proxy back to around 1981 with some certainty; again its lower than all of these, with slightly less certainty (remortgages are not broken out but formed only around 10% of loans back then; backing these out we get around 150k for Q2 approvals in 1975, 77 and 80) it looks like we are on course for a Q2 worse than any since 1974.

In the interests of fairness I should point out that it is well below where I had expected approvals to go. The speed and scale of the fall since February in particular (a 40% cut) has been mindboggling. I predicted (http://boards.fool.co.uk/Message.asp?mid=10892374) that average approvals for 2008 would be in the 50k - 85k range - at 61k so far they are in that region and will probably stil (lending probably can't be cut much further - although given we are in uncharted territory maybe that is a dangerous thing to say - and will recover slightly towards the end of the year, although it will not be back to sustained 90k plus levels for several years yet)

Curiously it is also lower, for the first time, than the number of "other" loans (equity release and further advances) of which there were 47,000. These sorts of loans, with very low starting LTV, are a much safer bet than lending money to actually buy houses. Remortgaging continues to be sort of okay; having bobbled around the 90-110k region, again with generally lower LTV and HPI ratios it is a much safer bet than lending for purchase. Overall lending is down 40% year on year.

In terms of volumes they are slightly worse than numbers, indicating that average mortgage sizes are coming down about 4% year on year (which of course does not mean average house prices are falling, as it depends on deposits; and is not a properly adjusted figure - still it is roughly in line with what I think the LR will be showing at the correctly lagged monthly point). Interestingly remortgaging average mortgage sizes are also starting to slip although they are still up 8% year on year.

At £24bn overall gross lending is down to 2003 levels, and net lending of £4.1bn is back to 2001 levels. Overall the stock of secured lending is now increasing at only around 5% a year, the slowest rate in 10 years.

Meanwhile in the unsecured lending world net lending of around £1.4bn, whilst relatively modest, showed that as well as running down savings and releasing equity consumers have been using credit cards (with a big jump in outstanding credit) and to a lesser extent other unsecured lending to

There is no point IMHO using any kind of statistical econometric technique to say what is going to happen to approvals in any detail over the next few months. Approvals may continue to fall further; of course they can't fall below zero and there is some higher ceiling at which only the true forced sellers must trade. I would even expect activity to pick up slightly as forced sellers who have been hanging on finally bite the bullet (or get repo'd) and slash prices by the sorts of levels needed to satisfy mortgage lenders or attract the very rare species known as the "cash buyer". Approvals will probably then rise at some point, but this won't be the end, or the beginning of the end... (you know the rest). What I can say with a degree of certainty, and I have said before, is that they will not be staging a quick recovery but heading into a protracted period below the key 90k level (still if you put a gun to my head I would say average approvals of 58k over 2008 which impiles things will not get much worse and will get slightly less worse - but this is pure feel and guesswork without any credible model to back it up I am afraid).

This never looked like a 2004/5 style v shaped / dip market to me, and it looks even less like one now. There isn't going to be someone turning on the lending taps followed by a huge rush of frustrated first time buyers into the market. Although Nationwide are going to be doing an RMBS soon, and HBOS have already done one, we aren't going to see much significant new money to actually buy houses with, and for the crucial FTB/BTL even less. Anyone who is still expecting this to happen, probably the same people who a few months ago expected a 'v dip', has crucially misunderstood what has happened in the wholesale money and bond markets; and the effects that it is going to continue to have for several years.

So then two more dollops of data this week in the form of Nationwide and Halifax, based on approvals both are likely to show further fairly hefty year on year falls."

http://boards.fool.co.uk/Message.asp?mid=11119016

[victoria24]

totally agree with you but there are positives:

land reg figures (the official "what cant speak cant lie" figures) show house prices up 1.8% this year so far.
houses are still selling if they are premium for the area
all the lossess have mostly been declared.

the trouble with the whole thing is that its down to confidence, from the punter on the street to the capital market departments at the lenders. the fsa have forced liquidity down lenders necks so they are keen to keep their balance sheet afloat and wont roll money over anymore.
what we need is more reporting of the positives to reassure people and institutions that the situation is balanced.
oh! and gordon needs o keep listening (laughed so hard my head fell off)

[Alan]

But the land registry figures are even further behind, aren't the latest set for April?

[victoria24]

but if you backtrace the media to that time and then marry it with the official figs it illustrates that the market is more resilient than the press would have you believe. also that they got it wrong!! thats not to say that the prophesy wont self fulfill anyway.
the reality is though.. you need viewers to get offers to sell houses :-(

[thewoodies]

wow !!:uhoh
My heads spinning ive actually had to use my brain to take that all in :laugh:laugh :exit

[Alan]

but if you backtrace the media to that time and then marry it with the official figs it illustrates that the market is more resilient than the press would have you believe. also that they got it wrong!! thats not to say that the prophesy wont self fulfill anyway.
the reality is though.. you need viewers to get offers to sell houses :-(

Oh god the press have loved whipping this up from a few months ago, this really didn't need to happen but for our old good old British media!

However as you say you need viewings and then people who can actually proceed, meanwhile all the agents are telling people to drop their prices because as long as they are trading up the ones above will also drop a similar amount!

[IanR]

Oh god the press have loved whipping this up from a few months ago, this really didn't need to happen but for our old good old British media!


Sorry to disagree but we've just been through a period of abnormally loose lending, low interest rates and easy credit which fed through into increased house prices. Now the credit has dried up, interest rates are on the up and lending is both down and given only to those that can afford it. This too is feeding into house prices - but in reverse... the media is only reporting what it sees...

The problem for those moving over to NZ seems to be that UK prices are falling whilst NZ prices are not... a report in the NZ herald this week spoke of prices being supported by cashed up overseas Kiwis and 'stralians buying up up NZ property at 'bargain' prices (how one can say that NZ property at a 9 or 10 times multiple of earnings is a bargain is beyond me though, not to mention the 'quality' of the said NZ property).

My solution has been to sell in the UK at a realistic price and rent in NZ...

[IanR]

totally agree with you but there are positives:

land reg figures (the official "what cant speak cant lie" figures) show house prices up 1.8% this year so far.
houses are still selling if they are premium for the area
all the lossess have mostly been declared.



Land Registry figures are a lagging indicator - not only that but it takes no account of any improvements/extensions that have taken place to a property between sales.

I was involved in the UK property market as a small developer for 28 years - and it is cyclical - there are booms and then there are busts - we've just had a boom and now we'll have a bust - it's no big deal because in 5 or 10 years we'll go into another boom..

[Belmont Babes]

I agree with you Ian but can I also say WOW! You are all so clever and eloquent. I too had to use my brain to digest all the info.

[victoria24]

I also agree with Ian to a large degree. Im just pointing out the effect the media has on the global economy these days rather than the natural cyclical nature of highs and lows.
This time is unprecedented in the way it is happening as the indicators aren't following the usual path. We'll look back in 20 years and yearn for the US to be the super power rather than india/china.
a big difference over the last 5/10 years is that rather than mortgage lending, we've really seen assett traders in play. the fact the assett was a mortgage was largely irrelevant. it was just something you could buy for £1 and sell for £2.
i was in a meeting earlier this year with the capital markets chief from one of the top 10 lenders in the country and he admitted that if he could sell on a mortgage on a shack on a beach for an 80 year old pensioner then he would make it fit the the regulatory requirements!
i have been a large player in national sub prime mortgage packaging (this means we write the loans on behalf of the lender) for 5 years. I think Ian and I are commenting on the same issue with experience from different areas of the market and both opinions are indeed valid.
i'd still like to sell my house though!!!

[holland]

Wow hit the big 100 thousand is that a record lol