London house prices?
Discussion
NomduJour said:
that deal has been going on for ages. represents a 30+ % discount. anonymous said:
[redacted]
Is that SE or SW? Only ask as SW has issues (prices higher therefore more impacted by SDLT / ATED) but in SE (SE10/SE3), things seem to have started moving quite quickly in the last 3-4 weeks. That said, some agents seem to be better at moving stuff than others and those moving things this year look to be the same ones that were moving them last year.Harry Flashman said:
I'm SW2. Same houses have been on the market for months.
There have been some that have taken root here, too. That said, some agents (the ones I found easier to deal with, FWIW, and those that seemed immune to the "listing at whatever bonkers price the vendor thought it should, maybe, get) have listed and moved stock since the start of last month...but it's not at the same price point as an SW postcode, admittedly.I think people simply cannot accept that their houses are worth less than they thought.
Look at these two on the same road in SW2 (round the corner from us)
£1.35m asking (admittedly they have just dropped it to 1.25, which is still too high)
1930s semi-detached
2234 square feet
4 bedrooms
3 baths, one WC
45 foot garden
nice condition inside
poor location on the street (overlooked by an ugly 1960s block).
http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/42919773?...
Another is under offer. Asking was £1.5m, 3000 square feet with a garden room,
£1.45m asking
Edwardian semi detached
2970 square feet
5 bedrooms
3 baths, one WC
30 foot garden with garden office and side garden too
better location on the street
http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/42518158?...
There is no way the first house is worth what they want for it, given the fact that the second house is under offer. 1930s vs Edwardian, 25% smaller, far worse location. But people would rather believe an estate agent than open their eyes and see what is going on.
Our house is a 1930's semi like the first one (same row of houses). Ours is:
1930s semi-detached
2700 square feet
5 bedrooms
3 baths, one WC
45 foot garden
newly and totally refurbished to extremely high standard: we replaced absolutely everything except the brick walls and roof!
the best location on the street (overlooking the park).
My EA friend recently valued ours at around £1.2m for sale within a reasonable period. It is a lot bigger, in a better position and higher spec inside than the first house listed, which the vendors were asking £150k more for, originally.
People don't want to hear that the days of free money on property in London are over.
Look at these two on the same road in SW2 (round the corner from us)
£1.35m asking (admittedly they have just dropped it to 1.25, which is still too high)
1930s semi-detached
2234 square feet
4 bedrooms
3 baths, one WC
45 foot garden
nice condition inside
poor location on the street (overlooked by an ugly 1960s block).
http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/42919773?...
Another is under offer. Asking was £1.5m, 3000 square feet with a garden room,
£1.45m asking
Edwardian semi detached
2970 square feet
5 bedrooms
3 baths, one WC
30 foot garden with garden office and side garden too
better location on the street
http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/42518158?...
There is no way the first house is worth what they want for it, given the fact that the second house is under offer. 1930s vs Edwardian, 25% smaller, far worse location. But people would rather believe an estate agent than open their eyes and see what is going on.
Our house is a 1930's semi like the first one (same row of houses). Ours is:
1930s semi-detached
2700 square feet
5 bedrooms
3 baths, one WC
45 foot garden
newly and totally refurbished to extremely high standard: we replaced absolutely everything except the brick walls and roof!
the best location on the street (overlooking the park).
My EA friend recently valued ours at around £1.2m for sale within a reasonable period. It is a lot bigger, in a better position and higher spec inside than the first house listed, which the vendors were asking £150k more for, originally.
People don't want to hear that the days of free money on property in London are over.
Edited by Harry Flashman on Tuesday 7th March 12:58
Harry Flashman said:
I think people simply cannot accept that their houses are worth less than they thought.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
We looked at a house 3 1/2 years ago that was, at the time, on for £1.15m...and felt like an £900k house to me (but what do I know; my judgement was impaired by disliking it). Ticked one box (garage) but I loathed the house (small footprint, top heavy, 5 story building 15m behind that would take all SSW light, etc). I watched it do the rounds of different agents for 18-20 months with the price going up each time. When we listed our last house, I spoke to one of the agents and it seemed it was the vendors were sure it was worth more than it was, to the extent that, at one point, it was listed for £1.3m. Looks like it went for £1.020m, after nearly 2 years on the market (in what was a rising market).
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Some agents are better than others, too.When we sold, I was meeting one agent with whom I had already "had words," and, as Mrs EJH left for work that day, it was determined that there were 2 possible outcomes:
1 We got along swimmingly and
2 That agent was never seen again but we did have a lovely new patio and were unlikely ever to move again
Option 3 was determined later that day, this being a claim of self-defence re: option 2, this being, "but officer, he was trying to rob me; that's what 1.75% plus VAT is, isn't it."
Mercifully, it was option 1 as he brought his number 2 along (who was great), knew how to price, knew how to market and knew how to produce excellent particulars.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
It seems to vary.Most prospective sellers have at least 3 valuations, sometimes 4 or 5. There will inevitably be a spread of pricing, and in my experience most sellers go for the higher end of the spectrum, unsurprisingly.
Some agents are taking the view that it's better to have the house on the market at too high a price and work the seller's expectations down once you've got them signed up, than it is to provide the correct valuation at the beginning and watch the instruction go to one of their competitors.
In my town there were one or two agents known for high pricing, then 3-4 weeks down the line the price would come down 10%. The other agents who were previously pricing more accurately are then forced to value more optimistically in order to get any business. This then creates a perpetual spiral of ever higher prices and every fewer sales, with stubborn vendors becoming greedy rather than accepting they simply fell for a convincing estate agent who over-valued their house.
Add to this a comparative lack of forced sellers and the market stagnates fairly quickly.
DFLers are still keeping elsewhere moving, like this
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prope...
w
kers from Wandsworth are an Agent's best friend!
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prope...
w
kers from Wandsworth are an Agent's best friend! wker of Wandsworth here 
Mine is on the market again, after failing to sell after 3 months just post Brexit. Been a month so far with one viewing!!
This is a street where if a house goes up for sale it ends in bidding wars, well it did up to 2015.
Have dropped price from 1.2 million to 950,000 but still no takers. Surely this means that people are no longer willing to pay stupid prices for tiny houses.
It doesn't bother me as the house was bought in 1998 but my ex and my kids live in it whilst I pay thru the nose to rent a place.
Why aren't rents crashing down??
ker of Wandsworth here Mine is on the market again, after failing to sell after 3 months just post Brexit. Been a month so far with one viewing!!
This is a street where if a house goes up for sale it ends in bidding wars, well it did up to 2015.
Have dropped price from 1.2 million to 950,000 but still no takers. Surely this means that people are no longer willing to pay stupid prices for tiny houses.
It doesn't bother me as the house was bought in 1998 but my ex and my kids live in it whilst I pay thru the nose to rent a place.
Why aren't rents crashing down??
Interesting thread. Although not London; rents are taking a nose dive round here (Oxshott, Surrey), in what is a typical DFL market, I guess.
We couldn't find something we liked to buy for many of the reasons laid out in this thread (asking prices seem to be going up, house quality seems to be going down and they sit on the market) so are renting again.
We were looking at a few places that would accept ~20% less than they used to be rented for. A lot of 'corporate lets' seem to be disappearing with banks and O&G struggling and packages/ expats shrinking.
I would expect 'our' new house would be marketed at £1.1-1.2M to sell and we're paying £2,900 in rent (including the gardener who is meant to be >£100/month). Now, the landlord has owned it a while (and 9 others) so his real yield vs. original sale price is probably excellent but if it were to sell as an investment house now, the yield would be ~3% before voids, charges, tax, repairs etc.
And that's in an arguably difficult market i.e. you can't count on capital appreciation to top that up anymore (round here). Is it worth it? All that money tied up in not a very liquid asset! It's interesting times and we track the London market and it looks like a lot of BTLs are now being put up for sale but end up reduced shortly after and sitting on the market.
We couldn't find something we liked to buy for many of the reasons laid out in this thread (asking prices seem to be going up, house quality seems to be going down and they sit on the market) so are renting again.
We were looking at a few places that would accept ~20% less than they used to be rented for. A lot of 'corporate lets' seem to be disappearing with banks and O&G struggling and packages/ expats shrinking.
I would expect 'our' new house would be marketed at £1.1-1.2M to sell and we're paying £2,900 in rent (including the gardener who is meant to be >£100/month). Now, the landlord has owned it a while (and 9 others) so his real yield vs. original sale price is probably excellent but if it were to sell as an investment house now, the yield would be ~3% before voids, charges, tax, repairs etc.
And that's in an arguably difficult market i.e. you can't count on capital appreciation to top that up anymore (round here). Is it worth it? All that money tied up in not a very liquid asset! It's interesting times and we track the London market and it looks like a lot of BTLs are now being put up for sale but end up reduced shortly after and sitting on the market.
croyde said:
Why aren't rents crashing down??
I recently struggled to find a tenant for my B2L in Lewisham - took nearly 3 months compared to 2 weeks when I last advertised it in 2015. Had a lot of interest but people were saying that it was too expensive. I dropped the price a little and managed to find someone who seems decent.From my sample of one, it seems that the rental market is slowing which should lead to lower rents.
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