housing market 2020-2021 = WTF???
Discussion
tapandunwrap said:
Any thoughts on what might change this? Been trying to buy for a long time now and just can't see what's likely to soften the market. or is this the point that houses become out of reach for perpetuity?
If rates go up (by like 3-4%) it will cool markets. That wont happen in the short term.If people stop buying then it will cool. But again that wont happen and we would need to see a major slow down and I just cant see that coming.
IMHO house prices have been quite flat from maybe 2015 to 2020. Maybe it was due an adjustment. Either way we are in a cycle now that means stock levels are low and there is no easy way for the cycle to be broken - I think it will just take time to naturally burn itself out - I think we will see prices settle next year but in certain areas might continue to creep up. Then maybe a slight down turn in 2023. Then 2024 small growth and back to a "new normal". Just my gut feeling though.
tapandunwrap said:
Any thoughts on what might change this? Been trying to buy for a long time now and just can't see what's likely to soften the market. or is this the point that houses become out of reach for perpetuity?
Perhaps when lockdown ends and people return to working in the office, going for lunch with colleagues, returning to the gym etc so that spare bedroom is no longer needed for a WFH office and a garage is no longer needed for a home gym. Also once furlough ends this may have an impact.However if the working from home culture remains much higher than before covid, and winter lockdowns continue for a few years then any house with a garden and 2+ bedrooms outside of a city centre will continue to see huge demand IMO
Muzzer79 said:
Blown2CV said:
WeWe did have a purchase agreed (we won out of 9 bidders) and it was fairly progressed, but with no ETA after 3 months, the vendor pulled out.
If you're in rented, why did this deal break down? If you've viewed 60 properties and still not found or been able to buy one you like, it's hard to know if you're being too picky or if it's just the market not letting you get properties you like.
There'll be someone along who'll say that prices and demand will drop next year due to redundancies after Covid.
Someone else will say that the market will hold.
Nobody really knows.
But if it keeps blowing up like a bubble then that bubble will burst at some point so, if you're in rented, my gut feeling is to sit tight and be patient.
ETA - we were very lucky. Sold our place in April and within 2 weeks found a lovely house that we had an offer accepted on. It's not gone through yet, but we're praying that it does because, in the intervening 2 months, precisely one house has come on the market that fits our (wide) criteria.
it is also hard to tell whether we are being picky or if it is the market. If the issue is supply, then I would assume that the number of all types of properties would be higher under certain types of market conditions... but if the issue is demand then the supply is the supply and all it means is that we find it hard to complete upon the property we want... finding wouldn't be the issue. We have seen maybe 5 properties that we would go forward with over the last year or so. Is that a bad hit rate...dunno.
BertyFish said:
Similar situation,
We put our bungalow which was in quite a special location on the market July last year having lived in it for 2 years and not being quite right for us.
So the buyers could be for the stamp duty and to be in a good buying position we decided to go into rented which is something
we've never done before.
Completed Feb and since then we have viewed maybe 6 houses at the most, 2 that are top end for us and not quite our style and the rest
needing work which is fine but youve got to love the house after spending a couple of years working on it.
Looking on Rightmove everyday is depressing, the 2 main estate agents are being realsitic but the smaller estate agents that have 1 or 2 houses a month are pricing them crazy, i guess telling the vendors you can get this for it and trying there luck.
Im not sure if its best to stretch ourselves or to stay put in rental and see what happens.
yes very similar to our deliberation right now! We put our bungalow which was in quite a special location on the market July last year having lived in it for 2 years and not being quite right for us.
So the buyers could be for the stamp duty and to be in a good buying position we decided to go into rented which is something
we've never done before.
Completed Feb and since then we have viewed maybe 6 houses at the most, 2 that are top end for us and not quite our style and the rest
needing work which is fine but youve got to love the house after spending a couple of years working on it.
Looking on Rightmove everyday is depressing, the 2 main estate agents are being realsitic but the smaller estate agents that have 1 or 2 houses a month are pricing them crazy, i guess telling the vendors you can get this for it and trying there luck.
Im not sure if its best to stretch ourselves or to stay put in rental and see what happens.
ThatGuyWhoDoesStuff said:
It is constant and unrelenting insanity.
There's no explanation, reason or sense to any of it - the very best you can hope is that when the music arbitrarily stops/starts you've somehow managed to be on the right side of it.
It's astonishing and not limited to property ime, cars, watches, everything is going absolute batsThere's no explanation, reason or sense to any of it - the very best you can hope is that when the music arbitrarily stops/starts you've somehow managed to be on the right side of it.
t at the momentCertainly some of the lower end demand will be driven by people not holidaying etc, apparently Motorhomes are flying out the doors, but the stop has to be painful, I can't see any other way round it
It feels like the housing market of 2007 to me......an overheated bubble......I nearly moved up the housing ladder then....but decided to fix my mortgage for another 2 years.....was glad I did as 2 years later I was able to upgrade to a house I would never have been able to afford in 2007. The financial crash of 2008 combined with better LTV gained over those 2 years meant 2009 was a good time to buy.
I would say if you are in renting now and can afford to wait a year or 2 then do it.....
If your next house is a keeper for next 20 years then just buy now and don't worry about it.
Apparently more than 1%of the UK are millionaires.
I assume that includes everything including property and pension but still, just highlights that you're competing with a lot of very rich people for the best properties.
Along with most wealthy people becoming disproportionately more wealthy during the pandemic and the chancellor stoking the property market I'm not surprised people are struggling to buy the nice properties.
I assume that includes everything including property and pension but still, just highlights that you're competing with a lot of very rich people for the best properties.
Along with most wealthy people becoming disproportionately more wealthy during the pandemic and the chancellor stoking the property market I'm not surprised people are struggling to buy the nice properties.
Plenty of houses in London for sale 
Things that will change it - people being called back to the office? People realising the country is more boring than they thought? Interest rates going up? Stamp holiday ending?
A mate of mine offered 20k over asking on a 750k house, flogged their flat in London, the owners of the house they're buying have your issue, nowhere to go, ergo the whole thing is just stuck. My mate is moving out anyway as flogging a flat in London with only a balcony is not bad in this market, and then they'll probably go into rented I guess and continue to look at other stuff if it comes on. But nothing is.
Things that will change it - people being called back to the office? People realising the country is more boring than they thought? Interest rates going up? Stamp holiday ending?
A mate of mine offered 20k over asking on a 750k house, flogged their flat in London, the owners of the house they're buying have your issue, nowhere to go, ergo the whole thing is just stuck. My mate is moving out anyway as flogging a flat in London with only a balcony is not bad in this market, and then they'll probably go into rented I guess and continue to look at other stuff if it comes on. But nothing is.
Pretty much same here.
We’re watching stuff in preferred area for years. Loads of good stuff sitting waiting for a buyer.
Finally got to sell our other place (but we’re renting) and stamp duty holiday kicked in and the rest is history.
I’d say you’re best out of it for another 6 months as you’re just fighting idiots with more money than sense, who are likely thin on the ground but it’s ample to generate enough silliness in the market to ruin it for everyone else.
We’re watching stuff in preferred area for years. Loads of good stuff sitting waiting for a buyer.
Finally got to sell our other place (but we’re renting) and stamp duty holiday kicked in and the rest is history.
I’d say you’re best out of it for another 6 months as you’re just fighting idiots with more money than sense, who are likely thin on the ground but it’s ample to generate enough silliness in the market to ruin it for everyone else.
ChocolateFrog said:
Apparently more than 1%of the UK are millionaires.
I assume that includes everything including property and pension but still, just highlights that you're competing with a lot of very rich people for the best properties.
Along with most wealthy people becoming disproportionately more wealthy during the pandemic and the chancellor stoking the property market I'm not surprised people are struggling to buy the nice properties.
OP hasn't mentioned his budget I don't think?I assume that includes everything including property and pension but still, just highlights that you're competing with a lot of very rich people for the best properties.
Along with most wealthy people becoming disproportionately more wealthy during the pandemic and the chancellor stoking the property market I'm not surprised people are struggling to buy the nice properties.
I think the stamp duty holiday and covid re-evaluation is the big thing here given as you say, 99% of people are not millionaires. Saving 15k when spending 7 figures is an annoyance vs important like it would be if spending 500k.
Its strange really that 50% of the population are telling me that houses are unaffordable, yet they have all sold for over the asking price. Doesn't quite add up if you ask me 
The only thing i can suggest is waiting till next spring, as all the people who moved to the country will be desperate to get back to the cities after after a winter of traipsing through mud. Inflation will have kicked in and the interest rates will be going up, probably slowly but even 1/4 % will be double what it is now. It will all slow down at some point, but while people are desperate for space and can't remember interest rates above 1% they will continue to spend on houses. Bring back the 80's and 15% interest, that will kill it dead.
The only thing i can suggest is waiting till next spring, as all the people who moved to the country will be desperate to get back to the cities after after a winter of traipsing through mud. Inflation will have kicked in and the interest rates will be going up, probably slowly but even 1/4 % will be double what it is now. It will all slow down at some point, but while people are desperate for space and can't remember interest rates above 1% they will continue to spend on houses. Bring back the 80's and 15% interest, that will kill it dead.
We're about to put our place on the market. One of the agents told me it's a great time to sell as there's so little stock out there. I reminded him that I also wish to buy a place that is much more desirable in the current market than the place I'm selling (1 bed detached converted country chapel with no garden at ~£240k to a 3-4 bed country cottage/house with garage and big garden at <£650k), so I'm not exactly jumping for joy.
I'm increasingly seeing places appearing back on the market after sales have fallen through.
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/109198268#/
This one, for example, was on at £600k at the beginning of the year. Now it appears back on the market with a £25k uplift and stamp duty to pay. It's quite frustrating.
I'm increasingly seeing places appearing back on the market after sales have fallen through.
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/109198268#/
This one, for example, was on at £600k at the beginning of the year. Now it appears back on the market with a £25k uplift and stamp duty to pay. It's quite frustrating.
okgo said:
ChocolateFrog said:
Apparently more than 1%of the UK are millionaires.
I assume that includes everything including property and pension but still, just highlights that you're competing with a lot of very rich people for the best properties.
Along with most wealthy people becoming disproportionately more wealthy during the pandemic and the chancellor stoking the property market I'm not surprised people are struggling to buy the nice properties.
OP hasn't mentioned his budget I don't think?I assume that includes everything including property and pension but still, just highlights that you're competing with a lot of very rich people for the best properties.
Along with most wealthy people becoming disproportionately more wealthy during the pandemic and the chancellor stoking the property market I'm not surprised people are struggling to buy the nice properties.
I think the stamp duty holiday and covid re-evaluation is the big thing here given as you say, 99% of people are not millionaires. Saving 15k when spending 7 figures is an annoyance vs important like it would be if spending 500k.
Funnily enough I started a similar thread couple of months back my daughter now living back with us after a breakup sold her house last year and understandably wants her own space everything you go for ends up a bidding war I was going to start a thread on landlords as renting seems to be just a minefield as well I am guessing so many people are trying to rent the same property so what criteria are landlords looking for she passes the affordability she has a huge lump from proceeds of sale we have offered to pay 6-12 months up front she is quiet respectful and everything a landlord would be looking for as an ideal tenant she isn't going to be partying all night long or growing cannabis in the loft sometimes it feels like you are having to send these groveling emails as to why you think you would be suitable I am guessing as with purchasing the demand is high thing is we are being picky either
Feels to me like a bit of a ‘post-war’ boom:
Money in pockets because no holidays, etc
YOLO attitude due to restrictions, illnesses, deaths even
Combined with what was a strong market anyway, it creates demand.
It will reduce when we have to start paying for COVID - either through taxes or job losses.
Money in pockets because no holidays, etc
YOLO attitude due to restrictions, illnesses, deaths even
Combined with what was a strong market anyway, it creates demand.
It will reduce when we have to start paying for COVID - either through taxes or job losses.
Lots of issues in the property market. Flight from cites, more space required for people working from home, more single owner properties on the demand side. The is a huge demand for homes in the south. People can afford it. Lots of people have cash and good deposits from saving for the past two years or selling London properties.
What would normally happen is that supply would increase to match demand, but on the supply side, massive disruptions from covid creating delays, copper and lumber prices spiking and staff and supply shortages mean that it cannot unwind and the supply cannot increase to match the demand.
It is global, its going to go up, and its due to boom for the next 2 years, this is just the start. Sitting tight with a deposit is the worst thing to do, inflation is eating your cash and the market is moving up.
What would normally happen is that supply would increase to match demand, but on the supply side, massive disruptions from covid creating delays, copper and lumber prices spiking and staff and supply shortages mean that it cannot unwind and the supply cannot increase to match the demand.
It is global, its going to go up, and its due to boom for the next 2 years, this is just the start. Sitting tight with a deposit is the worst thing to do, inflation is eating your cash and the market is moving up.
dirky dirk said:
Try a peak district village 8000 people two houses, under 230k (four if you include ex authority and shared equity)
sellers market,
Just over the border to your west.sellers market,
Quick search on rightmove the other week in our village/town of about 16,000 residents up to £500,000.
Once you took out new and retirement homes there were 21 properties. Remove the 6 bungalows there were 15, remove the small terraces and apartments theres about 5 family homes if that.
And the "I'm all right Jack" homeowners are whining about new homes being built in the area
3 new housing estates going up but the smallest 3 beds start at £395k.
Older terraces cheapest is £275k, 2 beds and no parking.
People are now posting on the 2 local FB groups for people to pm them if they are thinking of selling to even stand a chance.
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