[babnye]

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!

[huggybear]

Dead mans territory sound about right. You've got to ask yourself what you could spend that extra 5-6k of tax on if you bought at 250k instead. That would get you a pretty nice bathroom I would have thought.

[babnye]

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?

[hellsbells]

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??????

[huggybear]

 hellsbells, on Apr 26 2009, 09:40 AM, said:

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.

[babnye]

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.

[ella-at-home]

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?

[babnye]

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!

[ella-at-home]

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

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.

[babnye]

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

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.....

[ella-at-home]

Yes it's a difficult balance, especially when under the Notice to Quit - very stressful for you. Bishopdown does have some really useful facilities and is very popular, it will be interesting to see what happens when the new homes are put in. Various housing plans seem to be on for the other suburbs around the city too, and though there will be more housing available I am not sure how this will filter down to house prices or desirability. Harnham, Fugglestone Red & Bishopdown seem to be earmarked for a lot of housing, but if like the new Alderbury housing mentioned earlier in this thread developments are priced at a premium over existing properties then what effect will that have? Not sure when the building work is due to start either, though I imagine developers won't be keen to start until the market picks up?

Salisbury definitely has its positives, like you say there are some good schools, it also has nice amenties, countryside is lovely, direct trains to London are a plus too. I also have friends and family around and am pretty settled. Just looking at it objectively I don't think the asking prices here are justified and am hoping to see some more sense in the market by autumn / winter. I'm not sure many vendors here are ready to accept a -30% off peak offer

[richiep]

 babnye, on Apr 25 2009, 01:18 PM, said:

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!

Hi Everyone,
I have read all your posts and I strongly believe that buying now would be a huge mistake. You have all said that nothing is moving and prices are not being reduced.

BE PATIENT SAVE MONEY AND STRESS

THE CRASH HAS NOT EVEN STARTED PROPERLY. THINK HIGHER INTEREST RATES AND INFLATION. THAT USUALLY DOES THE TRICK FOR ME.

The truth is that there is an immense amount of awful housing stock in and around salisbury which is terribly overpriced. Do not for one minute think that developers are going to start building in this climate. Even if you think you want to buy a house- don't!!

By the way, i speak as a sold to renter in salisbury with a sizeable deposit depreciating in banks- better that than investing it in a house which will fall in value even faster. I will eventually buy a house when the correction comes. That will be 18-24 months time.

This post has been edited by richiep: 27 April 2009 - 05:44 PM

[ella-at-home]

Agreed Richiep! Watching and waiting here, and certainly not buying anything for a while yet. Just looking forward to seeing Salisbury sellers accepting the boom is over.

[babnye]

Yeah! Here's for the sold to renters in Salisbury!

We've been told there's a property available for rent (long term) here on BF which might just suit us. Here's hoping!

[spyguy]

A collection of comments Salisbury:

(I'm not from Salisbury. I arrived in the early 90s - 1 bed flat 1.5 times local income, nice 3 bedder 3 times).

Salisbury gets hammered in economic slowdown.
Lots of reasons - low wages, very poor employment opportunities, lots of people arrive in the good time, fail in the bad times and sell up.

Salisbury employment is probably the worse it has ever been. Don't be fooled by the 0.0001 unemployment rate. Salisbury is becoming a bit of benefit town - pensioners, back-back syndrome, teen mums.
Private sector employment has been shrinking rapidly since the early 2000s - look at the census/lLA stats

One really weird thing about Salisbury is the number of self-employed builder/construction - If Im giving another 'Painter and Decorator' business card from a someone in the pub I'll scream. A high percentage men go and work for the public sector- hospital, army etc. These jobs have always paid crap. They do the job for 10-15 years and then come to the decision that they need to become more 'enterprising' to make money, so they setup as a painter decorator (most common), 'handy-man', general builder i.e. jack of no trade. Walk around a residential area and see how builders vans you see.

Commuting. 'Its near London' No its not - and with SW trains, London is getting further away. Yes, I know a lot of people commute. God knows why - 15 minutes to get to station (park???), 90 minutes to Waterloo, 30 minutes tubing to somewhere with paying jobs. Thats a good 4-5 hours of your workday and a good 10K of your post-tax pay!
Have you tried driving anywhere at rush hour - 1 hours driving only gets you about 20 miles.

Employment - never great, getting worse. Mahle gone - 500 direct jobs + 500+ indirect, FP teetering on going under, Hi-flex gone. Land command - relocated outside of commutable distance.
Local-ish employment opportunities gone - Andover has been gutted, Bstoke is all BTLs, S-ton is going the same way as the football team.

Housing demand - low. There really is not a lot of squaddy families renting in Salisbury. I'd guess less than 100.
Don;t believe the hype about Porton - UKGOV is consoladating all the nasty chemical agencies to Porton (safer) but the typical Porton employee is on 15K - rabbit eye dripper types. There is no such thing as a 'highly paid Scientist' in government research.

Rentals. I don't wander into BF - nothing to wander for - I cannot get into the One-stop as its the local night time meet up stop for every dole-y/chav in the area - why don;'y they walk an extra 15minutes and sit in McDs????
I would guess people (inadvisably) buying BTLs has propped up Salisbury from 2002->2006. There appears to be a huge over supply of rentals - rule of thumb if a rental sits empty for more than 1month than you are in trouble. MY favourite rental at the moment is the shop convervision opposite the Bedwin Street chippy. Empty since it wa finished, gone thru about 3 different agencies, all going to 'Let' despite no one ever moving in. Now empty with no sign.


Mortgage finance. If there was ever a town dependent on high multiples, no dposits, self-certs then Salisbury is it.
We are moving to 3 times single earner, 20% percent deposit mortgage finance. Do the sums.