Prices Falling In Gwynedd/anglesey 7%

[dalek]

Just spoken to Porthmadog estate agent - my late father's house on market. She said prices in this area are down 6 or 7% despite Daily Mail ramping. She referred me to this from last month:

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/big-increase-house-prices-parts-5382617

It's odd, as Gwynedd includes the Snowdonia National Park. My dad's house, where I grew up, is a five-bed, 2-reception Victorian terrace house on a main but quiet road in excellent nick, just quite dated (dad was 81 after all!). It's five minutes from Portmeirion Italianate village (where The Prisoner was filmed) and you can see the Ffestiniog Railway steam train and Snowdon and the range from the front windows.

We've now reduced it to £139,000 (!) but we've only had one viewing in a year! I just don't understand. I think it's because what's happening in this area is what should be happening throughout the UK - and maybe the Help to Buy scam hasn't reached this remote part of Wales - yet.

Edited August 23, 2013 by dalek

[The Masked Tulip]

Sounds lovely. How does the price compare to similar on the market?

[dalek]

Sounds lovely. How does the price compare to similar on the market?

Thanks. It is lovely, albeit on a main road - maybe that's the problem. Plus it's not a dinky rustic slate-quarry worker's cottage

But it's at rock-bottom price, compared that is, with what else is on market in same village. At the risk of advertising, these are pics of dad's house:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-36369982.html

Compared to this 3-bed bungalow, again dated but at least with a fitted kitchen and parking space, on at £198,500, about 20 metres away, but off the main road. There's much worse than this above £200,000! But they're obviously not selling either:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-38557855.html

Edited August 23, 2013 by dalek

[dalek]

Or there's this, for God's sake, on at £175,000:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-40080577.html

[Bemusedmover]

Just spoken to Porthmadog estate agent - my late father's house on market. She said prices in this area are down 6 or 7% despite Daily Mail ramping. She referred me to this from last month:

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/big-increase-house-prices-parts-5382617

It's odd, as Gwynedd includes the Snowdonia National Park. My dad's house, where I grew up, is a five-bed, 2-reception Victorian terrace house on a main but quiet road in excellent nick, just quite dated (dad was 81 after all!). It's five minutes from Portmeirion Italianate village (where The Prisoner was filmed) and you can see the Ffestiniog Railway steam train and Snowdon and the range from the front windows.

We've now reduced it to £139,000 (!) but we've only had one viewing in a year! I just don't understand. I think it's because what's happening in this area is what should be happening throughout the UK - and maybe the Help to Buy scam hasn't reached this remote part of Wales - yet.

If you look at sold prices on Rightmove you will note that......

1/ hardly anything above £125 is completing at land registry

2/ less than a dozen sales in each town in July, earlier months are much worse

3/ houses are constantly changing estate agents to wipe their property bee slate clean (you must search for the full EPC for an accurate idea of how long on the market)

4/ many towns have wildly varying prices for identical houses on the same street

5/ as mentioned on the Swansea thread most of the houses are absolutely sh*gged out needing a fortune spending on them

However - Most are constantly SSTC

EDIT or 6/ being sold by GREEDY relatives

Edited August 23, 2013 by Bemusedmover

[dalek]

If you look at sold prices on Rightmove you will note that......

1/ hardly anything above £125 is completing at land registry

2/ less than a dozen sales in each town in July, earlier months are much worse

3/ houses are constantly changing estate agents to wipe their property bee slate clean (you must search for the full EPC for an accurate idea of how long on the market)

4/ many towns have wildly varying prices for identical houses on the same street

5/ as mentioned on the Swansea thread most of the houses are absolutely sh*gged out needing a fortune spending on them

However - Most are constantly SSTC

EDIT or 6/ being sold by GREEDY relatives

More proof that the DM and BBC among others are simply lying through their teeth!

The ones that need a lot of work tend to be 'bereavement sales', like ours, I think.

Edited August 23, 2013 by dalek

[The Masked Tulip]

I think the big problem with houses in Gwynedd is the perceived Welsh language issue which can put off those who do not speak Welsh.

But why would that put off people born and bred in the area?

Here in Swansea I notice loads selling up to about 150K, then it slows from 150K to 200K and once you get over 200K it is very slow.

Yes, houses above that do sell to cash buyers but according to EAs I know they are getting rarer.

I overheard one EA this week saying to her colleague that their Mumbles office had SSTCed 28 properties on their records currently. The colleague asked when the SSTCs had begun and most of them had gone 'sold' 5 or 6 months ago with some going SSTC in January but they had not yet completed.

So the colleague openly said "How many do you think will actually complete?".

[dalek]

I think the big problem with houses in Gwynedd is the perceived Welsh language issue which can put off those who do not speak Welsh.

Possibly in some cases, but there are loads of English families and singles living in the area.

[StainlessSteelCat]

Combination of low salaries, low population and relatively high living costs means that money simply isn't there to support high house prices in this part of the world. I think the market for houses in the middle of nowhere for over £150K is a very small one.

Some of the stuff has been on the market for more than two years. As to why Gwynedd isn't more popular - lack of jobs plays a big part in attracting new people. It also used to have a considerable reputation for being very insular and perhaps even unwelcoming. That's not been my experience, but a lot of people who don't live around here say it to me.

Realistically, you'll be someone working locally to buy the OP's house, have a bit of equity or a decent deposit and have a household income of £40Kish - and be wanting to move? Dalek, from your description it sounds like you are viewing it from a tourist's rather than a local's eyes.

Edited August 24, 2013 by StainlessSteelCat

[dalek]

Combination of low salaries, low population and relatively high living costs means that money simply isn't there to support high house prices in this part of the world. I think the market for houses in the middle of nowhere for over £150K is a very small one.

Dalek, from your description it sounds like you are viewing it from a tourist's rather than a local's eyes.

Ha ha, I am viewing a potential sale from a tourist's, or rather, an incomer's eyes, you're right. That's probably because I feel the proximity of Portmeirion where the Prisoner was filmed and the Ffestiniog Railway steam train station in the same village, would attract certain fans who want to settle here - this does happen, and they tend to fit in very well. People are pretty welcoming here - even more so if you're willing to learn Welsh, which, again, does happen.

You're right too about local wages in general, but there are plenty of local teachers and council workers moving into the area where the salary is around £30,000 for one person, plus there's the Snowdonia National Park HQ just half a mile from house, where £25,000-£30,000 salaries are the lower scale. So it would be feasible for a local family to be interested in a £139,999 5-bed house if partner was working too. But it isn't happening.

We shall see. But far too many properties here above £150,000 have indeed been on the market for two years and will have to drop. People are in denial still.

[dalek]

So after two and a half years we finally have a buyer and have accepted £120,000. We dropped gradually from £139,000 although it started at £160,000. A great relief. But rock-bottom price for a 5-bed 2 reception victorian terrace in good order, if dated slightly. Interesting that others on the market as long as us haven't dropped at all in that time! They must be insane.