When/Will house prices cool down?

I think it's the conservation aspect - Teddington has remained much as it was 60-70 years ago, whilst other nearby places like Kingston, Surbiton, Ealing etc. are unrecognisable in parts due to excessive numbers of poor quality, often high rise, blocks of flats having been built in place of the original architecture.

The poor rail connections have probably helped Teddington in that way, causing much less pressure to build short term housing for more transient residents.

This effect has compounded over time, and now leafy, Victorian Teddington is a much more reliable destination for the moneyed people looking to move out from more central areas than the other suburbs which have been disfigured more extensively, even if it means their journey back in takes over twice as long.

That trajectory probably did continue for a couple more years after they bought it, but has gone into reverse since then. It's probably 'worth' roughly what they paid for it in 2019, which is obviously not the answer they are looking for!

If asking prices were broadly set and met up to 2020 with rates at ~ 2% ish, I can’t see anything but a loooong stagnation or slump at best as salaries catch up or enough distressed sales reset expectations.

The surge in cash buyers coming out of the woodwork on the sdlt cut stimulus and free money period has now gone.


Genuinely in the doldrums here until either prices become affordable or money in pockets rises.

Talking of flight paths...I live fairly close to Belfast international airport (it's not a super busy airport, maybe a bit like Leeds Bradford) but we're looking at moving to a property close to the airport. House is a old stone farmhouse, a bit of a dog but great grounds, about 1.8 acres.

Phoned the estate agent. Was told that it was a cash sale as nobody would provide a mortgage due to being within 1 mile of the airport. What in gods name is that all about? Never heard that before. It's selling cheap due to renovations needed (a lot) so we've enough equity to buy it but screw that for an idea. If circumstances change, don't want to be left with a home you can't get a mortgage on.

Bank won’t wanna hold the bag if a plane lands on it presumably.

Proper airport rather than one of those regional wife beater ones.

Reasonable run to the marinas opposite the IoW.

Great selection of prep schools.

Generally not an island surrounded by stabby ghettos.

Not Surrey.

Not Kingston.

Not suburbia.

Protected from the savage horrors of South London by the Thames still.

Bushy Park.

Walkable to Twickers.

Still has fewer social climbing, obnoxious new money tts than Richmond which has become polluted by those absolute floaters.

Life is still walkable.

Personally, I wouldn't and I don't think it's the greatest of places but I can see its value. It's a good compromise for a couple who have a flat in town but are having to consider how to cope with buggies then schooling but who are also abjectly terrified and rightly so of suburbia. You have the massive loss of the Tube and quick taxis but the reality is that can be a fair trade for buggy space, car space, park space and quicker access to England.

Indeed. I’d agree with most of that, but Teddington is absolutely a part of London’s suburbia.

I think the difference that DA is referring to is that it’s ‘nice’ Victorian suburbia as opposed to nearby 1930s estates like Berrylands or Tudor. I’d imagine those areas would be a lot more difficult to get used to for people moving out of town.

In reality, I’m not sure if Teddington is that expensive compared to the surrounding areas, it’s just that more of it is nice. Prices aren’t that much lower in the best roads in north Kingston or the river roads in Surbiton even if those wider areas are much cheaper overall.

Any cooling seems to be specific to regions/streets and even individual houses, we were buying during 2021 and the thing that stood out was that even absolute dogst was selling instantly/bidding over asking. The people who lost their minds and paid handsomely for anything with a front door during that time are the ones who may be in for a bath if they need to sell any time soon.

Overground sewer pipe through your living room? No problem sir. House entirely made from asbestos, yes I'll bid 20k over asking. Oh what's that, access via a 3 mile privately maintained road with shared ownership with you and one other house which needs resurfacing. Sign me up.

If you had a house with "issues" it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to offload it for a decent price.

We sold a 4 bed detached house with a large garden and large double garage at the end of 2022. We took about an 8% drop from asking to just get it sold as we wanted out and the market was starting to drop thanks to higher interest rates.

Timed it wrong as we missed out on the hysteria of 2020-2021 where (as you said) anything with a front door was getting silly bids.

It took until spring 2023 to go through. We couldn't find anything that looked fair value so moved into rented for 6 months, hoping the market would collapse.

I really thought that being chain free and a cash buyer would have sellers falling over themselves to take our offers, but it simply didn't happen.

Our budget was about £350k ish to be mortgage free, but willing to take on a mortgage for something around £400k-£450k if it was worth it.

We viewed about a dozen houses that were all around the £400k mark and pretty much every single one was the same story: they'd bought it for much less 5-10 or 20 years before, done hardly anything to it, and now wanted an enormous profit. Wouldn't take any offers. Didn't need to sell.

We left our details with several agents, with precise instructions on exactly what we were after, but never had a single phone call.

A perfect house came up but was sold as soon as it hit the market. I rang the agent and was told that it was a special "early viewing arrangement" that we weren't privvy to, despite being chain free and ready to go. I went loopy at them.

In the end we got sick of the whole process. Vendors not listening to offers. Agents telling their vendors to sit tight and ignore offers. Houses needing new bathrooms, kitchens, complete redecoration, yet wanting 100% more than they paid back in the early 2000s.

A house came up on an estate we liked for sensible money, perhaps slightly under what i reckoned it should be based on previous sold prices and various indices that i used to gauge prices. Nothing needing doing. Finally!!! It was one we had seen for sale before but it sold quickly, and now had fallen through so they were now willing to listen to offers.

Moved in last autumn and couldn't be happier.

Hell of a journey but worth it.

And now asking prices seem to be heading up again. So those agents and vendors have been proved right. Slightly disappointed that the crash i was hoping for never happened, but happy to be out of the game. It's stressful!!

……but then you paid VAT on the extension! And probably some fees too.

Neighbour of ours moved to an identical house, but with the kitchen / diner etc extension already done. Was cheaper than getting it done on his own house.