leemo Posted October 13, 2005 Share Posted October 13, 2005 This came on today, asking £200k. http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-4834780.rsp I'm sure they would have been asking atleast £220k last year. Will be an interesting one to watch. Many properties seem to be sticking that would have sold very quickly last year. Oxford is defintely down 5% by my reckoning, and if this 200k place does not shift quick I will be thinking more along the lines of 10%. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wankan Posted October 13, 2005 Share Posted October 13, 2005 Try to keep us posted Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shavedchimp Posted October 14, 2005 Share Posted October 14, 2005 This came on today, asking £200k. http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-4834780.rsp I'm sure they would have been asking atleast £220k last year. Will be an interesting one to watch. Many properties seem to be sticking that would have sold very quickly last year. Oxford is defintely down 5% by my reckoning, and if this 200k place does not shift quick I will be thinking more along the lines of 10%. Friends of mine bought a similar place to this about 3 years ago for £140,000. I won't consider houses in this area reasonably priced until prices get back to below that level. £200k for the house you posted is at least £60K too much in my opinion - call me old fashioned Peter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wankan Posted October 14, 2005 Share Posted October 14, 2005 Friends of mine bought a similar place to this about 3 years ago for £140,000. I won't consider houses in this area reasonably priced until prices get back to below that level. £200k for the house you posted is at least £60K too much in my opinion - call me old fashioned Peter Peter , you're old fashioned Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shavedchimp Posted November 2, 2005 Share Posted November 2, 2005 If average prices in Oxford are around £220,000 then what is the actual price paid? Does anyone know if vendors are getting 100% or their asking price here still? Old Fashioned Peter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RET Posted November 3, 2005 Share Posted November 3, 2005 Yes the numbers do appear to support what you say (although of course it's difficult to compare properties without looking at how smart/extended they are etc). On that road ourproperty says that the sales since 2004 are: 10 May 2005 62 Cornwallis Road, Oxford, Oxfordshire OX4 3NL Semi-Detached £209,500 30 Mar 2005 61 Cornwallis Road, Oxford, Oxfordshire OX4 3NN Semi-Detached £202,500 22 Nov 2004 23 Cornwallis Road, Oxford, Oxfordshire OX4 3NP Semi-Detached £187,000 28 Oct 2004 90 Cornwallis Road, Oxford, Oxfordshire OX4 3NL Terraced £210,000 15 Sep 2004 80 Cornwallis Road, Oxford, Oxfordshire OX4 3NL Semi-Detached £195,000 8 Sep 2004 20 Cornwallis Road, Oxford, Oxfordshire OX4 3NP Semi-Detached £213,500 25 Jun 2004 98 Cornwallis Road, Oxford, Oxfordshire OX4 3NL Terraced £215,000 16 Jun 2004 7 Cornwallis Road, Oxford, Oxfordshire OX4 3NP Semi-Detached £225,000 23 Apr 2004 79 Cornwallis Road, Oxford, Oxfordshire OX4 3NN Terraced £186,000 9 Jan 2004 77 Cornwallis Road, Oxford, Oxfordshire OX4 3NN Semi-Detached £188,000 However, as shavedchimp says, prior to 2004 they were a lot lower so we're really just seeing a little froth coming off. Friends of mine put their house on the market last week. It's sub-£200K and they had 6 viewers on the first day. Will keep you posted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leemo Posted November 3, 2005 Author Share Posted November 3, 2005 The property I mentioned was had been on the market last year. At 210k. So asking dropped 5% in 1 year. Agree its still early days and whilst prices are off their peaks, they still are much higher than they were a few years ago. BTW. I've been plotting the amount of stock for sale less than 200k in OX4 according to rightmove. Whilst the trend was a gentle decline from around 150 in June to 120 in mid October, the trend has just been broken and we are back at 135. So although there is some bullish news around at the moment (eg increased approvals, haliwide reports) it seems the effect of this is to mainly bring the sellers out of the woodwork. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RET Posted November 10, 2005 Share Posted November 10, 2005 Update on OX. My friends' sub-200K house within ringroad sold within 10 days of viewing. Loads of people round to see it. Not sure what % of asking but I know that they were basically waiting for the asking. I also see that shakerbaby's mate's house has sold. I feel (but cannot prove) that things are starting to pick up here esp at the low end. May be wrong and just affected by a few annecdotes though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leemo Posted November 16, 2005 Author Share Posted November 16, 2005 I agree things have picked up a bit; the market is quiet, rather than dead. Some of the better (in particular period) properties have been sold -- only having cut their asking prices though. I would still say there is a 'glut' of properties for sale. I sometime look at rental and there seems to be oversupply there too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
othello Posted January 3, 2006 Share Posted January 3, 2006 I was renting in Summertown last year (The Waterways). In 2003/04 I believe 2 bed flats in this areas were going for £295,000 but according to the latest LR figures two were soled at the end of 2005 for £245,000 and £250,000. A substantial drop! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oxford Howler Posted January 3, 2006 Share Posted January 3, 2006 Othello - is there any truth in the reports I've heard that when it rains over the Waterways, a foul black sludge oozes out of the ground? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
othello Posted January 4, 2006 Share Posted January 4, 2006 Othello - is there any truth in the reports I've heard that when it rains over the Waterways, a foul black sludge oozes out of the ground? Not that I noticed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peloton Posted January 5, 2006 Share Posted January 5, 2006 I was renting in Summertown last year (The Waterways). In 2003/04 I believe 2 bed flats in this areas were going for £295,000 but according to the latest LR figures two were soled at the end of 2005 for £245,000 and £250,000. A substantial drop! Yet all those period properties in Central North Oxford continue to boom. These 2 houses sold in less than 2 weeks: http://212.50.188.108/cgi-win/vebra.cgi?de...1/FRENC/10955/1 http://212.50.188.105/cgi-win/vebra.cgi?de...1/FRENC/10957/1 The latter one is 11% up on when it was last sold in July 2004. I find the arguments for a HPC compelling, but it isn't happening here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
othello Posted January 5, 2006 Share Posted January 5, 2006 Yet all those period properties in Central North Oxford continue to boom. These 2 houses sold in less than 2 weeks: http://212.50.188.108/cgi-win/vebra.cgi?de...1/FRENC/10955/1 http://212.50.188.105/cgi-win/vebra.cgi?de...1/FRENC/10957/1 The latter one is 11% up on when it was last sold in July 2004. I find the arguments for a HPC compelling, but it isn't happening here. Well I think I was saying the exact opposite. I have not looked at period properties yet, I was specifically focussing on the Waterways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oxford Howler Posted January 5, 2006 Share Posted January 5, 2006 Peloton - it's buoyant indeed. Those houses on Frenchay Rd went for around 10% over asking - and they came on in traditionally dormant mid-December. Two three-bed flats in a new house on Staverton Rd came on with Paul Murray yesterday. No outside space - 499K. Garden flats for 525K. Gasp. Grind teeth. Growl. There's a corps of determined buyers, mostly London STRs with one partner commuting, who circle like reef sharks for the Victorian houses in OX2. At a party the other day with five couples, all with kid/s - four couples were renting in Summertown, waiting to buy. And none of them had any plans to send their kids to the Dragon or one of the major public academies. They're going state or catholic and just have the perception that this is a good place to live. I preferred the area five years ago, when it was a misty, crumbling outpost of eccentrics and academic disfunctionals. There are too many Mercs and 911s these days - the trappings of worthless souls sitting awkwardly next to the rusting Morris Minors on front garden driveways... But hey - that's progress. If only there was a decent restaurant... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shavedchimp Posted January 5, 2006 Share Posted January 5, 2006 Hmmmm, how about this? http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-532...pa_n=1&tr_t=buy 1bedroom and a fantastic mudpit out the back (perfect for burying myself in) - it's a steal at £160000 What in earth is going on? I'd rather travel the world for under 10k a year, then have a look perhaps in 2007/8 Shavedchimp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peloton Posted January 5, 2006 Share Posted January 5, 2006 OH - I keep thinking no one will buy at that price, but someone always does (and seemingly at over the asking price). I heard there was a 2 bed house on Tackley Place up for sale March last year for 475 that went for 625! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
othello Posted January 5, 2006 Share Posted January 5, 2006 Last year I was renting in a "sought-after" area of Oxford called Summertown. A development of houses and flats known as "The Waterways" was developed there in 2002. Many of the flats are BTLs and I was renting one of the flats there for £1,100 pcm. In 2004 several of the 2-bed flats were on the market for around £300,000. However looking at actual prices paid www.houseprices.co.uk I could not find any of those of the market in 2004 and therefore assume they were unsold. However when I compared the three flats which did sell in 2005 against their purchase price in 2002 the figures are: 41 Cox's Ground was £295,000 sold for £315,000. 45 Cox's ground was £310,000 sold for £327,000. 38 Cox's Ground was £160,000 sold for £188,000. The increase in price over 4 years was on average only 8%. Taking acount of estate agents fees, stamp duty and inflation, all flats have lost a substantial amount of money over the period 2002-05 and they have fallen almost 20% against their peak asking price (not achieved) in 2004. Over the same period the FTSE 100 has risen by 50%. The BTL investers concerned have lost out, but at least they have got out of the housing market before prices fall further. I would be interested to hear other tangible examples of the market. What it demonstrates to me is that the headline figures and surveys of the Nationwide , Halifax etc are meaningless and bear no relationship to the realities of buying and selling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RET Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 I think that Oxford is a very odd market. There are very few really nice areas to live in. The only really attractive (nice housing, broad leafy streets etc) area to live in is North Oxford (and not all of that). Yet lots of people with money (esp from London) want to move to Oxford to bring up their kids etc. This external money wants the North Oxford dream and has the money to push the prices up. This means that there is a lot of pressure on the best roads in terms of sales and price (e.g. Staverton Road). The rest of Oxford (and I live in 'the rest' of Oxford) tends to be characterised by small, damp outdated housing much of it with quite a high flood risk. The people buying these houses aren't the ones with the London money so they rely on local wages. Local wages are pretty much in line with the rest of the country but the housing is way over average prices. This means that there is little competition for those houses so they are sticking a prices aren't under any pressure (falling a bit in some areas rising slowly in others). If I buy, for personal reasons, it may be in one of two brackets, one around £300K and one around £500K. For this reason I monitor a wide price range in Oxford and just outside. I would say that the mid range stuff (around £300K) is hardly moving. The bottom end (sub £200K) moves quickly for good quality but other stuff sticks. The top end is fast for the very best locations but outside of those areas it is sticking as much as the rest. I think that this probably explains the differences in views on hear. Do you agree? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oxford Howler Posted January 10, 2006 Share Posted January 10, 2006 More Oxford lunacy. http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-105...pa_n=1&tr_t=buy This agent is out of touch with its pricing. Anything inside the golden triangle of OX2 - bounded by the ring road to the north, city to the south, Marston Ferry Rd marshes to the east and rail canal to the west - could possibly pitch at this price. But if you're outside the triangle, you might as well be on Jupiter. They shoud be asking 475 for this and even that would be gross cheekiness. With the stamp, you're paying close to seven hundred thousand for a drab shed of breezeblocks and upvc. When they come at me out of context, these prices destabilize my humours... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
othello Posted January 10, 2006 Share Posted January 10, 2006 Oxford is indeed an interesting market and will fall apart like a cheap suit when the bubble bursts. The examples I gave were of BTL properties. If the BTLs pull out in force prices will tumble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RET Posted January 10, 2006 Share Posted January 10, 2006 Oxford Uni reported yesterday that they are going to build a large area of housing to rent to staff at low prices (sounds as it it'll be in wolvercote) see article We both work for the University and I have to say that housing is becoming a major issue in recruitment. Quite a few of the Colleges have had to start generous shared equity schemes to recruit and retain (well they've always had some housing help but many have increased it dramatically). I have to say that I can't see cheap rental being too attractive for many people but the situation is far better than it is for the majority of people who work for smaller organisations. At this rate I can see a copy of the anti-'English second home owner' actions in Wales - we'll have groups of dons roaming North Oxford at night setting fire to villas owned by London weekend commuters! Also, the Nationwide annual results for regions were out today. Oxfordshire is down 1.2% over the year with the breakdown as follows: Cherwell 4.9% Oxford 0.5% West Oxfordshire -0.4% Vale of White Horse -1.9% South Oxfordshire -5.8%. Doesn't sound like a booming year...I have to say that that pretty much tallies with what I have seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oxford Howler Posted January 14, 2006 Share Posted January 14, 2006 Well I can't see there's been any drop in prices in the 500-750k strata - gains if anything. Middle of January and I've been scanning for new ads - paltry pickings. Most of the main agents don't have a single family house on their books for the area we're looking in - OX2 - so instead they list the houses that went under offer in November to fill up window space. Beginning to look in the villages again, where I've seen drops of around ten percent over the last six months, although doubts swirl about rustic isolation on the wind-blasted heath. Anyway, I've decided to track the fortunes of the two flats for sale on Staverton Rd, mentioned above, to see if that gives me some clues as to where the market's heading. There are six flats in the building, two per floor. A first floor and second floor flat came on just before Christmas, joint agency, for 499k. Parking and a communal patch of lawn - small gardens for the ground floor flats. Not sure if and when the other flats are coming on, or their price - suspect they're going for the classic North Oxford agency tactic of only trying to market and sell one house per month, to engender panic and delusion among buyers. The flats are large - around 90msq - three beds, with high spec fittings. And there's a lift. The developer was probably thinking of geriatric SIPP buyers. Not sure who'll be interested now. For some reason, North Oxford seems to appeal to wealthy loners, widows and derelicts. People who've visited for a day come here to die. Wouldn't be surprised if we, the young family, end up moving into the village house of some unfortunate bereaved oldie moving to a luxury new build on Staverton Road. The young move out to the country and the old come into the town. I'll keep an eye out for the SALE AGREED signs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
othello Posted January 17, 2006 Share Posted January 17, 2006 I think that Oxford is a very odd market. There are very few really nice areas to live in... I would say that the mid range stuff (around £300K) is hardly moving. The bottom end (sub £200K) moves quickly for good quality but other stuff sticks. The top end is fast for the very best locations but outside of those areas it is sticking as much as the rest. I think that this probably explains the differences in views on hear. Do you agree? Completely agree. The development I mentioned seems to be falling significantly as it was overpriced in the first place and BTL investors are now starting to panic. I am anticipating big falls this year, much more so than last year, as reality bites. The VI spin as usual (especially the BBC) is trying to convince us that prices are on the up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oxford Howler Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 An update from the blasted heath... Well, no signs of New Year action in North Oxford for sure. More a case of uninterrupted stagnation. Think I've seen perhaps four family houses come on in the last six weeks - all charmless and part-compromised by one of the NPs - no parking, no period features, no potential. Nothing to report on the Staverton Road flats. I heard the developer turned down an offer at 450K - but frankly I think that's ballyhoo. He's going to be stuck with four units to sell pretty soon, and another flat's come on in the street at 300K (two beds and smaller, but nonetheless, a serious shekel incentive). Then there's still a whole swathe of newbuild flats emerging from the bogland developments along the canal - the only area of the local market that could be described as in glut. Meanwhile, I see from the Land Reg stats for Oct-Dec 2005 that semis in Oxford have sunk 7.5% on completion price over the year - average £280445 to £259538, sales of 470 to 525 units. A slide but not enough to really dent the insanity of the 700K norm of OX2... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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