Brighton Area

[All Seeing Eye]

A thing I notice using property bee is a lot of properties that haven't sold after 6 months - year of being on the market so they put the price up!!!! Especially Cubit and West (formerly Wyat and Son - renowned wide'os) cracks me up! I think the Sussex estate agents are all still living in la la land, some of these prices are higher than 2007 peak. I'm tempted to view them and put in an offer for half the random price the agent has dreamt up. I understand Brighton has become expensive, fair enough, but the estate agents seem to think it's shadow extends for 20+ miles, once you're 3+ miles away I would expect prices to fall dramatically but no!

I can't even be bothered to go and view houses these days and I'd guess I'm the kind of person the agents would want to attract with over over 50% desposit in the bank and earning more than a politician. Just cos there's still suckers out there prepared to pay 300k for a crappy house in nowheresville that they cannot afford doesn't mean I (who could afford it) am prepared to do likewise. I'm giving it til next spring for signs of the Skint Britain reality check, else me and my taxes are shipping out. Some more deserving country can reap the rewards of my endeavours and all those yummy taxes they love to squander on endless bs. I expect 90% of the current generations talent will do likewise, there's simply no future in England's dreaming.

[Skyliner]

A thing I notice using property bee is a lot of properties that haven't sold after 6 months - year of being on the market so they put the price up!!!! Especially Cubit and West (formerly Wyat and Son - renowned wide'os) cracks me up! I think the Sussex estate agents are all still living in la la land, some of these prices are higher than 2007 peak. I'm tempted to view them and put in an offer for half the random price the agent has dreamt up. I understand Brighton has become expensive, fair enough, but the estate agents seem to think it's shadow extends for 20+ miles, once you're 3+ miles away I would expect prices to fall dramatically but no!

I can't even be bothered to go and view houses these days and I'd guess I'm the kind of person the agents would want to attract with over over 50% desposit in the bank and earning more than a politician. Just cos there's still suckers out there prepared to pay 300k for a crappy house in nowheresville that they cannot afford doesn't mean I (who could afford it) am prepared to do likewise. I'm giving it til next spring for signs of the Skint Britain reality check, else me and my taxes are shipping out. Some more deserving country can reap the rewards of my endeavours and all those yummy taxes they love to squander on endless bs. I expect 90% of the current generations talent will do likewise, there's simply no future in England's dreaming.

Hi

Long time lurker. Been following the Brighton market for quite some time, wanting to upsize, but not over-extend myself.

I thought it might be informative to tell you my recent experience of trying to sell my place and buy another. I put mine on the market with C&W (as above - cowboys) and got four viewings for that weekend. Two of these turned into offers - one at the guide price, one just below. In the meantime, the house I was after went to a full price offer. To give you an idea, the price bracket we are talking about (both selling and buying) was around the 300k mark.

I was surprised how quickly we got interest as i thought things were slowing down. Having said that, most of the stuff on my RM watching list has gone at least SSTC. Family homes are certainly not slumping yet in the areas I am looking at (catchments of the good secondary schools of course).

I see some changes in Brighton, but not the crash that it needs for sanilty to be restored. I would welcome any other views on things on the ground.

Skyliner

[i wanna house]

Hi

Long time lurker. Been following the Brighton market for quite some time, wanting to upsize, but not over-extend myself.

I thought it might be informative to tell you my recent experience of trying to sell my place and buy another. I put mine on the market with C&W (as above - cowboys) and got four viewings for that weekend. Two of these turned into offers - one at the guide price, one just below. In the meantime, the house I was after went to a full price offer. To give you an idea, the price bracket we are talking about (both selling and buying) was around the 300k mark.

I was surprised how quickly we got interest as i thought things were slowing down. Having said that, most of the stuff on my RM watching list has gone at least SSTC. Family homes are certainly not slumping yet in the areas I am looking at (catchments of the good secondary schools of course).

I see some changes in Brighton, but not the crash that it needs for sanilty to be restored. I would welcome any other views on things on the ground.

Skyliner

the empty house next door to us (old lady died) has been up for approx 4 weeks . It has had one viewing (gf is home with baby most days but it's possible she has missed some ).

I dont see many prices going down and am considering moving away.

Mostly though because i am fed up with the litter and recycling boxes all over the streets. People here seem to have little regard for their environment even if they did vote a Green into parliament. argh

[All Seeing Eye]

12 St George's Mews, of no interest to me due to busy road location and no garden. At £230k you think it seems reasonably priced compared to others, that is however until you see via Zoopla that it sold previously on 11 May 2007 AT PEAK price for £210k !!!

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-30084101.html#mapandlocalinfo

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/house-prices/east-sussex/brighton/st-georges-mews/?sold_price_types=all&sold_price_years=all&so=date&sd=desc

It's quite clear it is Brighton Estate Agents / Sellers who are managing to somehow hypnotise enough mugs into the market to pay peak + 10% prices. Unfortunately the ONLY way the market will ever rectify itself is if a LOT of people get repo'd flooding the market and waking people up to the risk of over leveraging. However huge government intervention with mortgage being paid if you lose your job in 3 months + interest rates at 0.5%, your taxes are being used to fund this, but hey that's the resultant madness of 13 years of Labour, what did anyone expect?

So maybe the best thing is to lie about your income, get a huge mortgage, then hit the dole, let the taxpayers fund your life, and wait for 20 years for inflation to wipe out the cost. Essentially just continue the same irresponsibility that government and people did that nearly bought the country to total collapse. Oh and don't forget to blame everyone else of course (America, Bankers etc) ! There really is little point going to work or doing anything in Britain these days, you're no better off in the long term.

BTW on that tact I know of 2 separate people who let out properties to people on the dole, when they wanted the house back, in both cases the council told the tenants to remain there until they received a court order for eviction or they WOULD not re-house them. So the idea of anyone be it in government or anyone being honest and decent at any level in this country is long since gone. Lie, Cheat, Steal that's the modern way so best get with the program! Cynical or realistic - you decide!

[Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz]

Bloody hell, just done a scan and prices generally appear to be above 2007 peak. You're right. Jeepers!

Lewes is even worse (not that they ever had many good properties to choose from there anyway).

IR rises will hurt you boys badly. Just be patient.

Edited August 8, 2010 by gruffydd

[Tired of Waiting]

12 St George's Mews, of no interest to me due to busy road location and no garden. At £230k you think it seems reasonably priced compared to others, that is however until you see via Zoopla that it sold previously on 11 May 2007 AT PEAK price for £210k !!!

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-30084101.html#mapandlocalinfo

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/house-prices/east-sussex/brighton/st-georges-mews/?sold_price_types=all&sold_price_years=all&so=date&sd=desc

It's quite clear it is Brighton Estate Agents / Sellers who are managing to somehow hypnotise enough mugs into the market to pay peak + 10% prices. Unfortunately the ONLY way the market will ever rectify itself is if a LOT of people get repo'd flooding the market and waking people up to the risk of over leveraging. However huge government intervention with mortgage being paid if you lose your job in 3 months + interest rates at 0.5%, your taxes are being used to fund this, but hey that's the resultant madness of 13 years of Labour, what did anyone expect?

So maybe the best thing is to lie about your income, get a huge mortgage, then hit the dole, let the taxpayers fund your life, and wait for 20 years for inflation to wipe out the cost. Essentially just continue the same irresponsibility that government and people did that nearly bought the country to total collapse. Oh and don't forget to blame everyone else of course (America, Bankers etc) ! There really is little point going to work or doing anything in Britain these days, you're no better off in the long term.

BTW on that tact I know of 2 separate people who let out properties to people on the dole, when they wanted the house back, in both cases the council told the tenants to remain there until they received a court order for eviction or they WOULD not re-house them. So the idea of anyone be it in government or anyone being honest and decent at any level in this country is long since gone. Lie, Cheat, Steal that's the modern way so best get with the program! Cynical or realistic - you decide!

Hi ASE,

I think Gruffydd is right. Interest rates will be the key. The BoE and the new government will be decisive here - unless they loose control, of course.

We had 2 very important threads in the Main Forum about that:

Looks like the new gov. would like real prices to fall by 25% in this parliament - but slowly, gentle gentle. http://www.housepricecrash.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=147307&view=findpost&p=2624404

And such a fall would not break the banks: //www.housepricecrash.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=148809

But, they could just lose control, if the sheeple stampede, for instance: we could have panic selling, buyers strike, and a full crash. (BTW, do sheep stampede?).

[Tired of Waiting]

(...)

BTW on that tact I know of 2 separate people who let out properties to people on the dole, when they wanted the house back, in both cases the council told the tenants to remain there until they received a court order for eviction or they WOULD not re-house them. So the idea of anyone be it in government or anyone being honest and decent at any level in this country is long since gone. Lie, Cheat, Steal that's the modern way so best get with the program! Cynical or realistic - you decide!

Another day, another shock. That is truly disheartening. I really hope that this government will turn things around, and that, if so, they get re-elected.

Otherwise, I agree that emigration would then be almost obligatory, for the sake of our future children. We would have to "plant" a family in a fairer country.

[tigsrenting]

Anyway, just to annoy all the Brighton bulls out there - which isn't hard, I'll admit - I went to a party over the weekend and chatted to some builders. They were all moaning about work drying up and they all reckoned next year was going to be, guess what? 'REPO TIME'! Hooray!

I'm hearing the same story from builders electricians and plumbers.

Holiday makers and day trippers are not spending much when they visit. They even come prepared with suitcases of food and drinks.

The Pride parade looked hard up. It certainly didn't have the carnival atmosphere of years gone by more times are hard.

Don't have a clue about house prices anymore. So many I know are hanging on by their fingernails but this low interest rate has enabled them to hang on longer.

[castrogtx]

From RICS survey:

Geoffrey Holden FRICS, Parsons Son &

Basley, Brighton, East Sussex, 01273

274001 - With rising numbers of new

instructions and reducing numbers of able

buyers, prices will fall from current levels,

but not in a continuous month by month

way. However, in a years time prices will

be lower than they are now.

So down, maybe up but then down. What do estate agents call a spade?

[mjhodgson]

Holiday makers and day trippers are not spending much when they visit. They even come prepared with suitcases of food and drinks.

Probably can't afford to spend anything here after being robbed by the council and NCP for parking.

[i wanna house]

the empty house next door to us (old lady died) has been up for approx 4 weeks . It has had one viewing (gf is home with baby most days but it's possible she has missed some ).

update from ear-wagging girlfriend.

There was a veiwing today on empty house next door (two bed , hanover, in need of updating £265,000). American gay man and (girl)friend looking for a BTL no less.

they weren't impressed though.......

[i wanna house]

House prices in the South East fall significantly

http://www.rics.org/site/scripts/press_article.aspx?pressreleaseID=274

Antone see this in brighton ?? I dont

[Tired of Waiting]

House prices in the South East fall significantly

http://www.rics.org/site/scripts/press_article.aspx?pressreleaseID=274

Antone see this in brighton ?? I dont

I'm still not noticing falls in Arundel or Chichester either - 2 other areas I'm keeping an eye on.

There is another worry. The best predictor of short term house price changes (2 to 6 months ahead, for the annual index) is that RICS' chart, "Sales To Stock Ratio" (STSR). Usually, (past 15 years average) when agents are selling around 35% of stock, prices stabilise. If they sell less than that, prices start to fall, and above 35%, prices rise. See chart here: http://www.housepricecrash.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=148963&view=findpost&p=2663281

The national average is now much lower than that. But RICS said that in the south east: "sales to stock ration - a useful indicator of market slack - of 34%, only slightly down from 38 in June."

The good news is that it is falling. RICS wrote: "The consequence is that the average number of properties on surveyors' books rose to an average of 52, up from 43 in June. Average sales per surveyor increased marginally to 18, up from 17, reflecting the continuing lack of demand in the market (...)"

If it continues to fall, as it should, next month we will be in falling prices territory, and should see the annual index falling a few months later. But we should see monthly changes sooner than that.

.

Edited August 13, 2010 by Tired of Waiting

[shell]

There is a place in the South east boasting rambling 6 to 11 bedroom detached period family properties with huge gardens, massive rooms, utility rooms and garages. 3 beds £120K going up to 11 beds at £450k.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-24986545.html?premiumA=true

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-29315963.html

This would be, what, £300-£350,000 in Brighton? Here it's £179,950 . . .

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-16071546.html

It's St Leonards - as featured on last night's Location Location Location! It seems there is a growing community of nice middle class / boho / media-y / arty / families with kiddies making the place all nice for anyone else who want to move down.

It's only a matter of time before St Leonards / Worthing etc will help take the edge off Brighton prices. London buyers who have already moved to these places are encouraging friends to move down with them (I know some personally in both places and they LOVE it). All they need is a Thai restaurant, a school place (not easy to find in Brighton these days) and a couple of other middle class types to yak with. They don't even have to work when they're mortgage free. Just a thought in case any prospective Brighton buyers are perusing this thread!

[i wanna house]

There is a place in the South east boasting rambling 6 to 11 bedroom detached period family properties with huge gardens, massive rooms, utility rooms and garages. 3 beds £120K going up to 11 beds at £450k.

http://www.rightmove...l?premiumA=true

http://www.rightmove...y-29315963.html

This would be, what, £300-£350,000 in Brighton? Here it's £179,950 . . .

http://www.rightmove...y-16071546.html

It's St Leonards - as featured on last night's Location Location Location! It seems there is a growing community of nice middle class / boho / media-y / arty / families with kiddies making the place all nice for anyone else who want to move down.

It's only a matter of time before St Leonards / Worthing etc will help take the edge off Brighton prices. London buyers who have already moved to these places are encouraging friends to move down with them (I know some personally in both places and they LOVE it). All they need is a Thai restaurant, a school place (not easy to find in Brighton these days) and a couple of other middle class types to yak with. They don't even have to work when they're mortgage free. Just a thought in case any prospective Brighton buyers are perusing this thread!

i even think they have less smack heads then Brighton.

is there a train line ?

[christhpc]

i even think they have less smack heads then Brighton.

is there a train line ?

Yes there is, unfortunately it takes 50% longer to get to London than it does from Brighton. And there's even fewer jobs there than in Brighton (or Eastbourne... or Worthing.. or probably any town in the SE).

Shell, I agree there is much better value in Hastings, and I don't want to trash your posts, but believe me after living there for 18 years there's not nearly enough value to make me even consider going back

Prices have rocketed beyond any kind of justifiable level. See below as to the effect of these rises. Hastings being the only place in the SE in the top 10:

[shell]

Yes there is, unfortunately it takes 50% longer to get to London than it does from Brighton. And there's even fewer jobs there than in Brighton (or Eastbourne... or Worthing.. or probably any town in the SE).

Shell, I agree there is much better value in Hastings, and I don't want to trash your posts, but believe me after living there for 18 years there's not nearly enough value to make me even consider going back

Prices have rocketed beyond any kind of justifiable level. See below as to the effect of these rises. Hastings being the only place in the SE in the top 10:

Hey don't worry re trashing! I completely understand if you've had enough of the place. I just wanted to show anyone who might be looking for an enormous period house and a quiet life what you can get for your money elsewhere. St. Leonards has got its miserable side, for sure. But as I weaved (or is that wove?) through the drunks and beggars on Brighton's Western Road today, I observed a sight seeing bus nearly run over a heroin addict outside Shoe Zone and I thought, Brighton's horrible sometimes. If you can work from home and don't need to go to Primark every single second of the day, St Lenny's isn't such a bad option!

[christhpc]

Hey don't worry re trashing! I completely understand if you've had enough of the place. I just wanted to show anyone who might be looking for an enormous period house and a quiet life what you can get for your money elsewhere. St. Leonards has got its miserable side, for sure. But as I weaved (or is that wove?) through the drunks and beggars on Brighton's Western Road today, I observed a sight seeing bus nearly run over a heroin addict outside Shoe Zone and I thought, Brighton's horrible sometimes. If you can work from home and don't need to go to Primark every single second of the day, St Lenny's isn't such a bad option!

Oh yeah, I'm definitely not saying Brighton's so much better than Hastings, certainly not to command the kind of comedy house prices we get round here.

Although I will say I've never felt scared walking around Brighton at any time. Hastings on the other hand..!

[shell]

Oh yeah, I'm definitely not saying Brighton's so much better than Hastings, certainly not to command the kind of comedy house prices we get round here.

Although I will say I've never felt scared walking around Brighton at any time. Hastings on the other hand..!

I guess there are Londoners coming from Acton, Hackney, Brixton, Hounslow - in fact just about anywhere in London - that are scared walking round their areas, too, so St. Leonard's should be like paradise for them. Hastings, which I know some think not as nice as St Leonards, might even be an improvement for some of them, too. Even a year ago the mumsnet brigade were bigging the 2 areas up http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/property/755611-Can-anyone-tell-me-about-Hastings and now there are even more of them out there.

I can understand you not wanting to go back there though. I've lived in a couple of horrible places I have no intention of returning to despite the fact they've recently become completely and mystifyingly yuppified and desirable! Obviously this hasn't happened to St. Leonard's. But things are definitely changing out there. I'm just glad the option is still there for those with a bit of spunk and the desire to own a lovely big, old place in the South east

[sid public]

I'm from Hastings and recently moved to Brighton after 10 years in London. I've never bought a house but have house hunted in all three in my time.

The fizz is definitely still in the market in Brighton as I've looked at nigh on 20 properties since moving here. All grossly over-priced and all selling at (very) near asking price. Thoroughly, thoroughly, depressing.

With Hastings & St Leonards. Just be careful as it is not another Brighton & Hove. There are lovely areas and lovely people in Hastings and in many ways a far nicer place to live than B&H.... but... and it's a big but..... it has serious social depravation issues, unlike anywhere else in the South East..... hence the low house prices. Much of my family work in Social Services and, on a national level, Hastings and St Leonards are both considered on a par with famously deprived areas (Moss Side, Toxteth, Hackney) when funding decisions are made on a national level. However, I love it and would love to live there again one day but the missus is a little bit posh (from Sevenoaks) and won't even consider it. Oh and the schools and roads are terrible so I'm happy to wait another 20 years before I move back anyway!

But Brighton... jeebos those prices are high!

[shell]

Naturally there are always people on this thread keen to dismiss anywhere outside Brighton as simply not worth bothering with - after all, it's the Brighton page and the people on it want to live in Brighton. But as you can see from the mumsnet link I posted there are plenty who are enjoying life in Hastings and St Leonard's - and good luck to them! They'll enjoy their huge, rambling houses with enormous gardens and outbuildings while many Bright onions on here will, for the same price, be squashed into tiny, noisy hutches, always dreaming of more space as their kids get bigger and kicking themselves when they fail to get a place in one of the nice schools - oh yes we have many Hastings-level schools waiting for anyone who moves down.

After the incoming tsunami of job losses, there will be many who will have no choice but to live somewhere other than Brighton. And they may well be the winners in the end.

There is social deprivation in Hastings and Hackney and Brighton. When you live in these places you tend to find that if you have a community of like minded people to forge bonds with, you'll enjoy your life. There is always a better community spirit in these places precisely because it's a smaller community, though I'd add these communities are probably focused on families with kids because having brats forces you to rub along with others. St L's and hastings might not be for everyone but I'm glad some people (incl my friends) like living there! It kinda opens things out a bit, right?

[christhpc]

Hastings is alright. I had some good times there and for the self-employed able to work online it might make sense or the retiree that doesn't might mixing with the more colourful members of society, and there's decent pubs and stuff. But for me it doesn't make sense as the job opportunities are limited, and I'm not willing to commute the 3-4 hour door-to-door round trip to London.

It's nice enough during Summer with all the International Students (or whatever euphemism they're called these days) but outside that time it can be a bit grim.

As Sid Public has said there are serious social issues there. Brighton has drugs and homelessness but there's enough money there (for now). Hastings on the other hand has some very poor people indeed, and definite no-go areas such as Farley Bank and parts of Ore which make Whitehawk look like Chelsea. And they aren't even off the beaten track unlike in Brighton. Even the town-centre after say 9pm is a dodgy place to be on your own (fortunately there's usually a police van parked up). I'm a fairly big bloke and never had any trouble whilst coming home from a night out, but many of my friends did back in the day.

Anyway as you say this is the Brighton thread and I may be biased but I am from Hastings originally. I'm of the opinion that Brighton is quite w*nky and up its own a*se but as I have this strange need to live by the sea I know where I'd rather be. For now. I will say that I'd rather buy in Hastings than Brighton right now. If that makes sense Simply as I wouldn't be able to afford anything remotely decent here.

[i wanna house]

hot news from the argus about falling property

http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/8333407.Tile_falls_from_Worthing_shop/

[All Seeing Eye]

Cubitt and (Go) West make me laugh! I did a stint with them when trying to sell. Once I dumped them, I sold within a week with a 'proper' agent who priced it realistically. How they operate is they buy the shiniest suits they can and bombard both you and viewers with their bs in a mockney accent. It doesn't seem to occur to them that usually the ONLY reason a property isn't selling is BECAUSE IT'S OVERPRICED!!! Also what the hell does this price 'range' nonsense mean. £280k - £360k So they'll probably take an offer of £250k but if you feel a bit mad you could always pay 360k.

Here's a classic case of Cubitt going West - http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-29289254.html#mapandlocalinfo

Using property bee we see

7 April = on market

1 May = £240,000 - £260,000

19 May = 'From £240,000' to '£249,500 (hey not sold in 6 weeks lets put the price up! but at least the range nonsense is gone)

15 July = from '£249,500' to Price Range: £230,000 - £250,000 (not sold after 3 months lets get back to the price range)

No further changes

Has it not occurred to agent or seller that if after 4.5 months in a reasonably buoyant period it hasn't shifted it never will. If they had priced it at £210 no offers back in April (which I'm sure they'd take now) then they probably would have sold it, but they were totally misadvised by the Agent who has wasted months of their time doing viewings for nothing. All the buyers from back then have either bought or discounted this stale property in their mind or simply dried up.

A thing I learned when buyers are constrained is that if you track the market downwards you will just drop in proportion to competitors properties so will never sell. If you make yours lower than any competitive nearby property then you will. WE ARE NO LONGER IN A RISING MARKET! With Hips gone there are clearly more unserious sellers testing the market, but any agent worth their salt will say they are not interested in selling your house above what they see as a realistic price and will happily let you go waste your time overpriced with Cubitt and Fox as it makes the ones they take on seem like far better value. Those ones often though (as with mine) don't even hit rightmove as once realistically priced they go in days to people sat on the agents books waiting for something 'real' to come to market.

I'd love to see stats for each agent for the last year showing:-

1) total days on market for all properties added up / number sold

2) Sold Price / Original asking price when first on their books

This would give the 'wide' indicator. I advise sellers to use to adjudge the true value of their home based on sold prices and those that have been marked under offer in rightmove, then listen to each agent and go not with the highest price but with the one closest to what you actually see happening in the market! I would also advertise at the lowest price you are prepared to take and reject offers, not some daft price range which just confuses buyers and puts them off. The price will clearly appear better than competitors and takes the guessing game out of how desperate they may be and so take offers. I know people who offered 20% below asking last year and got it, what does that tell you about the Agent's price guesswork, clueless!

[The Floating World]

I see it's all gone quiet around these parts. Here's an anecdotal from West Hove.

Like everyone on these boards I think housing in some parts of the UK is overpriced and should come down in price, but i'm not entirely convinced that it will, not in the way that many people on here seem to think it will.

A 3 bed semi on my street sold in Feb 2007 for £345,000.00. At the time I thought that was ridiculous. Six months later their neighbour put their house up for £360,000.00. Bad timing as sub-prime crisis started in April 2007 in USA. That house did not sell until February 2009 for £249,999.00. Bad timing again as prices started to increase from March 2009.

The house which sold in Feb 2007 came on the market this week at £399,000.00. It sold the day it came on the market, in fact it hadn't even had time to be listed on Rightmove it sold that fast. Jammy buggers.

As with every market it's timing that counts the most.

If you had bought in 1989 and sold in 1993, bad timing.

Bought in 1989 (still bad timing for an entry) but sold in 2006, good timing.

Most of us can't think much further ahead than the next few weeks, let alone a decade.

People are paying over half a million for houses which ten years ago would have been around £150,000 all over Brighton and Hove.

In November 2000 I bought a flat in Lansdowne Place for £80,000.00, thinking I had been ripped off because it would only have cost £45,000.00 three years earlier, I couldn't see it going up any further for all the sound economic reasons advanced by everyone on these boards. I sold that flat in March 2005 for £162,500.00 thinking that the slump was just around the corner. Its worth about £200,000.00 now.

My neighbour in the two bed flat below bought his flat in Aug 2001 for £127,500.00 and sold in Mar 2008 for £292,000.00. Jammy buggers again.

Not sure that prices will be lower in a decade not whilst B & H are at such a discount for most Londoners.