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Salisbury Anyone?


babnye

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HOLA441

Has anyone been watching the market in Salisbury of late?

We have been renting for the last six years but I have not seen much evidence of a house price drop.

We've just been given notice to quit and I wondered if anyone had any recent experience of the market - particularly Bishopdown Farm which seems to be sustained by army sales/rents

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HOLA442
Bishopdown Farm which seems to be sustained by army sales/rents

The Army used to have its barracks in Hampshire/Surrey (Aldershot, Church Crookham, Fleet, Hankley, Camberley, Arborfield, Winchester, Bordon), and its ranges and training areas north of Salisbury. The Army have been moving out of Hampshire/Surrey for 20 years now and gradually relocating barracks, logistics, HQ between Salisbury and Andover.

The upshot is the increasing numbers of more senior soldiers (with families) are moving down your way and they all need to live somewhere, and somewhere to live when they retire at about 40 years old with 22 years service.

Are Army numbers in Salisbury growing faster than housebuilding? :unsure:

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HOLA443
Has anyone been watching the market in Salisbury of late?

We have been renting for the last six years but I have not seen much evidence of a house price drop.

We've just been given notice to quit and I wondered if anyone had any recent experience of the market - particularly Bishopdown Farm which seems to be sustained by army sales/rents

Hi Babnye,

I have been renting in Salisbury for 4 years. I almost purchased a house in petersfinger two years ago but thank god I pulled out now I can see the park and ride behind tesco under construction.

Having rented three different properties in 4 years I can say that the cost has remained the same +/- £25 for a two bedroom house- around the £700 mark.

There is a lot of opportunity for haggling with landlords as the market is saturated with 2-3 bed rentals.

as far as house prices go I have seen plenty of new builds in alderbury finally register as sold some 20% below the original asking price. This I feel is the minimum one should offer on any property. Most properties are just not selling or are being taken off the market altogether. I have seen the same properties on the market for 12 months without any drop in asking price.

Unfortunately, anything remotely nice, near the forest etc is still on ther market for over £500k (3 bed!). The way I see it , renting is the only option for the foreseeable future. There is no access to credit/prices are ridiculous/the country is bankrupt.. There are so many reasons not to buy at the moment.

I cannot bring myself to mortgage myself to death just to live in a overpriced box. All I am looking for is a 3 -4 bed house to live in for many years but I cannot find one. Renting rocks!!!

When unemployment finally kicks in I predict a major correction in Salisbury. Who on earth would pay 1.87 million to live in a new build in alderbury??

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HOLA444
Hi Babnye,

I have been renting in Salisbury for 4 years. I almost purchased a house in petersfinger two years ago but thank god I pulled out now I can see the park and ride behind tesco under construction.

Having rented three different properties in 4 years I can say that the cost has remained the same +/- £25 for a two bedroom house- around the £700 mark.

There is a lot of opportunity for haggling with landlords as the market is saturated with 2-3 bed rentals.

as far as house prices go I have seen plenty of new builds in alderbury finally register as sold some 20% below the original asking price. This I feel is the minimum one should offer on any property. Most properties are just not selling or are being taken off the market altogether. I have seen the same properties on the market for 12 months without any drop in asking price.

Unfortunately, anything remotely nice, near the forest etc is still on ther market for over £500k (3 bed!). The way I see it , renting is the only option for the foreseeable future. There is no access to credit/prices are ridiculous/the country is bankrupt.. There are so many reasons not to buy at the moment.

I cannot bring myself to mortgage myself to death just to live in a overpriced box. All I am looking for is a 3 -4 bed house to live in for many years but I cannot find one. Renting rocks!!!

When unemployment finally kicks in I predict a major correction in Salisbury. Who on earth would pay 1.87 million to live in a new build in alderbury??

Certainly, I was quite happy to keep renting too as you can see by the six year's we've spent in the same place but now it is difficult to decide whether to try and go for another rent and risk the same thing happening again or buy.

We are kind of stuck in B Farm because of school. This has been pretty competitive and certainly asking prices haven't dropped ...I know, I know, it's sale prices that matter. But it is such a small area that only one person buying a house at near asking price seems to keep the market buoyant in terms of how sellers are prepared to negotiate.

It certainly seems that senior soldiers moving in to buy in the area (B Farm seems popular!) keeps prices high.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating. We are going to look at everything that is on offer locally and put in low offers if we see anything we like. There is nothing on for rent up here at the moment though.

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HOLA445
Has anyone been watching the market in Salisbury of late?

We have been renting for the last six years but I have not seen much evidence of a house price drop.

We've just been given notice to quit and I wondered if anyone had any recent experience of the market - particularly Bishopdown Farm which seems to be sustained by army sales/rents

Hi Babnye. You live just around the corner from us then. Sorry you've got notice to quit, I guess that's the downside to renting. We're renting and looking to buy too and we're not seeing much value out there.

I've been watching the market like a hawk since before Christmas and there has been fewer and fewer house on the market. I've been keeping a spreadsheet of total number of properties for sale on Rightmove in Salisbury - you should see my anorak collection btw - anyway back in November there were 338 but now... 249. A 26 % drop. And it keeps going down.

There are very few coming on the market but we've seen 6 in the last couple of weeks and its an eye opener to know the reasons they are selling.

1 was an old lady wanting to downsize we think

2 were due to deaths

2 were because of divorce

1 was because the owners had already moved to Spain.

So nobody is selling up because they just want to move house. I think everyone is just waiting for prices to drop because almost everyone wants to trade up. And with very few FTBs able to get a big enough deposit together, the bottom end of the chains aren't there either.

So the few houses that are coming on the market are because of deaths and divorce and anything that is reasonably priced gets snapped up by the buyers that are out there waiting.

The silver lining though is the number of places for rent. I watch them too.. yes with my anorak on. Total number of properties to rent in Salisbury has gone up from 105 in November to 135 today, up about 28 %. Although it did reach a low of 87 at the beginning of Feb so I'm not sure if you can read much into it. Either way there has been a big increase in available rentals since the middle of Feb to today's figure. If that carries on then there has to be a downward pressure on rents and/or more ex-rentals coming on for sale.

Time will tell I guess.

Maybe we'll bump into you at our next viewing!

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HOLA446
Hi Babnye. You live just around the corner from us then. Sorry you've got notice to quit, I guess that's the downside to renting. We're renting and looking to buy too and we're not seeing much value out there.

I've been watching the market like a hawk since before Christmas and there has been fewer and fewer house on the market. I've been keeping a spreadsheet of total number of properties for sale on Rightmove in Salisbury - you should see my anorak collection btw - anyway back in November there were 338 but now... 249. A 26 % drop. And it keeps going down.

There are very few coming on the market but we've seen 6 in the last couple of weeks and its an eye opener to know the reasons they are selling.

1 was an old lady wanting to downsize we think

2 were due to deaths

2 were because of divorce

1 was because the owners had already moved to Spain.

So nobody is selling up because they just want to move house. I think everyone is just waiting for prices to drop because almost everyone wants to trade up. And with very few FTBs able to get a big enough deposit together, the bottom end of the chains aren't there either.

So the few houses that are coming on the market are because of deaths and divorce and anything that is reasonably priced gets snapped up by the buyers that are out there waiting.

The silver lining though is the number of places for rent. I watch them too.. yes with my anorak on. Total number of properties to rent in Salisbury has gone up from 105 in November to 135 today, up about 28 %. Although it did reach a low of 87 at the beginning of Feb so I'm not sure if you can read much into it. Either way there has been a big increase in available rentals since the middle of Feb to today's figure. If that carries on then there has to be a downward pressure on rents and/or more ex-rentals coming on for sale.

Time will tell I guess.

Maybe we'll bump into you at our next viewing!

Blimey...you have been doing your homework!

I had a chat with an agent today who had come round to value the house and he said he didn't know what houses would go for and that it was impossible to put a reliable price on them these days.

I'm seeing two on BF tomorrow. Will let you know my experience of their flexibility over price!

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HOLA447
Blimey...you have been doing your homework!

I had a chat with an agent today who had come round to value the house and he said he didn't know what houses would go for and that it was impossible to put a reliable price on them these days.

I'm seeing two on BF tomorrow. Will let you know my experience of their flexibility over price!

I've spent too long on HPC - it can turn you into an obsessive! I'd be interested to hear how well your offers go down. We haven't looked at any on BF, we've been more interested in older houses which is what we've always lived in. If you like newer places, have you looked at what Persimmon are offering up on Portway? I must admit I've been tempted by a new build and their prices aren't that bad considering what things are selling for in Salisbury.

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HOLA448
I've spent too long on HPC - it can turn you into an obsessive! I'd be interested to hear how well your offers go down. We haven't looked at any on BF, we've been more interested in older houses which is what we've always lived in. If you like newer places, have you looked at what Persimmon are offering up on Portway? I must admit I've been tempted by a new build and their prices aren't that bad considering what things are selling for in Salisbury.

I saw two today on BF. Both for 290k and one had had offers at 250k which had been rejected. Another I've seen on for 299, the EA tells me buyer would accept 20k less but don't feel embarrassed to go lower!

I had heard about the Portway build but rumours were a while back that the builders had thrown in the towel and the other half of the estate wasn't going to be built? Any ideas?

We like older properties too but we've moved our son once in terms of school and would like to try to stay where we are.

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HOLA449
I saw two today on BF. Both for 290k and one had had offers at 250k which had been rejected. Another I've seen on for 299, the EA tells me buyer would accept 20k less but don't feel embarrassed to go lower!

I had heard about the Portway build but rumours were a while back that the builders had thrown in the towel and the other half of the estate wasn't going to be built? Any ideas?

We like older properties too but we've moved our son once in terms of school and would like to try to stay where we are.

It must be a tricky place to try and sell at between 250 and 300k, nobody wants to pay the extra stamp duty for something that is only a bit better than the sub 250k properties.

Not sure what's happenning at Portway right now. I went up there a couple of months back and the plans are for a huge number of houses. They've only just started. But I drive past it every day and I can't see much going on there. It'll be interesting to see what Charles Church do. They're due to start there next month

http://www.charles-church.co.uk/detail.asp...elopment_id=180

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HOLA4410
It must be a tricky place to try and sell at between 250 and 300k, nobody wants to pay the extra stamp duty for something that is only a bit better than the sub 250k properties.

Not sure what's happenning at Portway right now. I went up there a couple of months back and the plans are for a huge number of houses. They've only just started. But I drive past it every day and I can't see much going on there. It'll be interesting to see what Charles Church do. They're due to start there next month

http://www.charles-church.co.uk/detail.asp...elopment_id=180

I just don't know what to do really.

It would be easier to try and buy the place we're in but you probably have heard about all the development planned for BFarm. Who knows what will happen to prices. Plus, landlords offered it to us at 280 for a private sale and we couldn't afford that. We could probably stretch to 260 but then they probably wouldn't go for that and what's the point in offering 10k above stamp duty threshold?

They wouldn't got for 250 if we offered it as they haven't even tried their hands at the local market yet and they say they're moving back unless we can buy for that.

What to do? I don't know. I hate feeling bullied into making a decision to buy/rent. Moving into another rented seems a risk and there is nothing around up here anyway at the mloment.

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HOLA4411

I can really sympathise, we're in much the same situation. Our landlord told us that he'd want to sell once our year was up but we know that the chances are he'll over price it. So we'd be in a position of having to pay over the odds or to move when we don't want to. The joys of renting.

My feeling is; if we see the house we want then we'll buy it if its at the right price. If when he serves our notice he over charges for this place then we'll move into another rental. If there are no rentals worth having then we'll buy something cheap and make the most of it until the right place does come along. I think prices still have a way to fall and I don't want to get rushed into buying something that isn't right and then losing a huge amount of money on it.

I really hope you find the right place - just hope its not the same one we want!

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HOLA4412

Hi guys,

We're looking to buy in Salisbury too, and no doubt at about the same price point too - £250K. I've had my eye on the market for about 2 years now and you're right not much is coming down. Then again tt seems to me that nothing is moving - very little going SSTC on rightmove.

I'm sure the EAs are holding things up. When we've been to see stuff they've been very bullish yet claim we've seen 15% falls. I challenged one on this who had a property on at £305K (bought by current owner in late 2006 for exactly that). I pointed out that his price didn't represent a 15% fall and he mumbled something about it being probably the wrong side of £300K! Annoyingly we loved the house (and possibly could have afforded it) but I'm not gonna pay over the odds when I suspect the sellers will start to cave soon (fingers crossed!)

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HOLA4413
Hi guys,

We're looking to buy in Salisbury too, and no doubt at about the same price point too - £250K. I've had my eye on the market for about 2 years now and you're right not much is coming down. Then again tt seems to me that nothing is moving - very little going SSTC on rightmove.

I'm sure the EAs are holding things up. When we've been to see stuff they've been very bullish yet claim we've seen 15% falls. I challenged one on this who had a property on at £305K (bought by current owner in late 2006 for exactly that). I pointed out that his price didn't represent a 15% fall and he mumbled something about it being probably the wrong side of £300K! Annoyingly we loved the house (and possibly could have afforded it) but I'm not gonna pay over the odds when I suspect the sellers will start to cave soon (fingers crossed!)

My feeling is that interest rates are going to have to start going up soon. Once that starts to happen we should start seeing real price drops happenning. Prices aren't going to go up any time soon, so its a case a sitting back and wait and see. In the meantime, if something comes on the market that really suits us then maybe we'll put in an offer. It hasn't happened yet though and we've looked at about half a dozen places so far.

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HOLA4414
My feeling is that interest rates are going to have to start going up soon. Once that starts to happen we should start seeing real price drops happenning. Prices aren't going to go up any time soon, so its a case a sitting back and wait and see. In the meantime, if something comes on the market that really suits us then maybe we'll put in an offer. It hasn't happened yet though and we've looked at about half a dozen places so far.

Hi

I agree. Just been talking with husband this morning about it as we have a few viewings today.

Although, from what we have seen so far, it is clear prices have dropped (asking prices are meaningless) the trouble is that buyers just haven't yet lowered their expectations. I think it will take the summer to see how things really pan out as with nothing selling, nothing is featuring on Rightmove as sold prices and buyers are still being silly about what they think they can afford.

It is clear though that those who bought in 2005-7 are presently looking at not getting back what they paid.

If only we could find a good little house to rent here on BF just for a year. Let me know if anyone sees one!

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HOLA4415
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HOLA4416

I've posted this on another post but just to add that I've just done a viewing on a property on at 285 out of interest. EA tells me in discussions that 250-300 is 'dead man's territory' and that if anyone seriously wants to move they will consider 250.

She also told me she thought prices here still had 8-10% to fall although then said that it was a good time to buy!

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HOLA4417
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HOLA4418

I agree!

It's interesting my landlords are getting a second valuation this week. I wonder if estate agents are still talking up the market on valuation. Asking prices seem to suggest they are but when you meet them, they seem pretty realistic.

Price high to get the business and then just work on the seller's expectations?

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HOLA4419

Dead cat bounce well and truely underway on the A30/west of Salisbury route. A signifigant number of gaffs that have been on for up to two years (with scant or no reductions) have gone under offer or SSTC in the last two weeks. We are talking about the +500K bracket here. A couple of properties that went on with Symonds and Sampson the week before Easter both sold the same week (but both with a few acres and really priced to sell - £200k to £300K less than the competition).

I will watch to see how many make it to completion................

p.s. Anyone else notice how few of the apparently "sold" houses ever make it into the land registry figures? My watch on Rightmove would suggest that 10 or more houses sold in my postcode area last year - only 2 of them appear on the land registry info??????

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HOLA4420
p.s. Anyone else notice how few of the apparently "sold" houses ever make it into the land registry figures? My watch on Rightmove would suggest that 10 or more houses sold in my postcode area last year - only 2 of them appear on the land registry info??????

It may well be an EA tactic. A few years back we put our last house on the market but when we didn't get a high enough offer we pulled it off again. Anyway, the EA kept the picture of our house in his window with a sold sticker across it. Maybe some are doing the same with Rightmove.

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HOLA4421

Just had another EA round to value landlord's house.

Had a good chat with her. Why is it that EA's almost seem straightforward and frank these days?

She said that the proposed development at the back of the house would put off buyers and she could see the house falling in value compared to others bedded in deeper in the estate away from the fields where the devlopment was going to take place.

She also confirmed that 250 offers were 'nothing to be ashamed of' in this market for houses in the 250-300 bracket. Although her view was that the local market has picked up since January and has been quite buoyant!

There is no way I am buying this house now! Interestingly, from our perspective, she mentioned that she thought it would be silly of the landlords to try and sell an empty house as it might take a long time and they were better off keeping us here. She said she would tell them that.

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HOLA4422

Hi, I am really pleased to see some active discussion on Salisbury! I too am waiting for the market to show the price drops, but so far asking prices are as high as ever here. I haven't owned a property since my divorce in 2005 when the marital home was sold, luckily that was the boom time which has given me a really good deposit for the future. I would only be looking at the lower end of the market (something like a "nice" 2 bed house seems realistic) but housing here is really overpriced, especially considering that local wages are not actually that high and the town has its fair share of problems. It was pretty clear that the market was due a correction even back in 2005, which is why I didn't rush in to buying again, hopefully when I do buy again my deposit will go that bit further.

Its interesting to read your posts and EA views, I am really hoping that the market does adjust here in due course to a reasonable level. If and when the market shows real signs of dropping I would consider buying again. There is definitely a "spring bounce" going on at the moment here which is not going to help bring about realism in the local housing market, hopefully by the end of the year sellers will be rather more realistic as I feel Salisbury has yet to face facts. Though a quick check on Rightmove shows that some houses are dropping I feel that the vast majority are still way overpriced, certainly not showing anything like the drop from peak mentioned on the main forum. The houses which are showing the drops in the low end of the market seem to be mainly in the town centre or just outside the ring road, either flats or very small terraced houses with no parking, often on a main road. No good for me anyway so I guess we just wait and see what happens?

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HOLA4423

I agree when you say that "I feel that the vast majority are still way overpriced, certainly not showing anything like the drop from peak mentioned on the main forum". it is always a source of frustration to see people talk about an obvious drop in prices in their area as Salisbury doesn't show any sign of that save when you start asking questions of EAs. Asking prices seem as high as ever.

It is such a strange little place. Different areas in which you want to live often amount to no more than one or two streets so it can make house hunting hard.

It also seems the sort of place where outside money buys houses e.g. soldiers etc, to rent out, and this seems to push up the price way beyond what most people in the town can afford.

I really want to find a rental close by and just sit there and see what happens in a year!

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HOLA4424

That's totally right, the prices of houses do not reflect local wages and locally the job market is hardly booming, nor is the city centre from what I can see (quite a few boarded up shops now). I think you are also right about outside money pushing up the prices, and there probably are a lot of buy to lets around, other thing is that Salisbury doesn't really have a great "housing stock" to speak of. I know a lot of those new build flats near the station are let out, and they do seem very expensive! House hunting within specific brackets often yields very few results here anyway, then once you take out ones which you definitely do not want there is precious little choice left in my opinion. It just seems incredible the price premium Salisbury has over other towns which are not so far away, and I just cannot figure out why :huh:

At least if prices come down people could actually feel that they were getting something OK for the money, without resenting spending a fortune for very little. Renting definitely seems best for the moment, unless buyers are able to negiotiate an incredible bargain in an area they definitely want to live in and will enjoy for a few years to come.

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HOLA4425

I totally agree with you. I wonder how much of it is to do with the nature of the town. People are very snobby about renting. Even though they see the property market slowing/falling, there always seems to be this urge to talk it up and to put a premium on 'home owning'.Lots of Mail and Torygraph readers :o

Last week, I had a discussion with a couple of people about prices and what I had discovered from EAs locally. They were absolutely unwilling to hear that the market might have fallen. They look at asking prices only and seem to think it is 'second class' to rent rather than good economic sense. They believe that there has been a little adjustment and that you had best jump on the ladder quick before prices run away with you again.

On what evidence?

I have found it difficult to balance renting against buying after being given Notice to Quit, but this is because, when you have children ,you need to try and find a bit of stability and balance your views on the market against obtaining a home for your kids. But I really do not want to jump in and pay a massive price for a house I can see falling in price in a year or so and blowing all our finances in the process. No cushion for redundancies etc

I think the Grammar attracts people back to the town who lived elsewhere.

In fact, I don't know why I live here! if it wasn't for the fact my son was settled and I have other domestic responsibilities, I think I would use this opportunity to run from Toryville and not look back.....

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