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%.

Try to keep us posted
Thanks

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

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

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.

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.

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...

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.

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!

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.

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.

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...

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

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!

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.

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?

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...

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.

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.

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.

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!

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...

...update...

One of the 499K Staverton flats now listed as under offer. Is it a ploy, or are people happily sinking half a mill into a declining market?

But is it declining? If so, why are family houses going for asking price plus. Who are these people?

You know, now that the stigma of bankruptcy is diminishing, I'm almost tempted to hurl myself howling into the credit pit and have done with it.

Penny-pinching is so clearly passe these days.

This is insane: 62 Kingston Road -
http://212.50.188.105/cgi-win/vebra.cgi?de...1/KINGS/11001/1

695K for a modest (albeit refurbished) house with no garden. The 'workplace' is the old garage, it still has the double doors. The house was last sold in March 2004 for 385K, so they are saying the house as increased 80% in two years! It makes those Staverton Road flats look good value.

FWIW: I'll email the EA to explain the valuation.

Nuts those prices are I think the bottom end (<200k) of the Oxford market picked up end of last year, and am currently buying! Fewer and few propertites are available for sale.

Sorry guys

I check to see what homes are for sale at the Waterways development. At the moment there seems to be nothing on the market at all (other than brand new flats). Many of the properties are BTLs. I wonder if landlords are hoping to ride out the storm. I am really surprised as I would have thought this particular development to be prime HPC territory. Perhaps they've had valuations, realised they've made almost nothing in the last 2-3 years and decided to hang on. Strange.

Well, the EA got back to me to say that the property is under offer for 700K. Am I missing something here, like an indoor, heated swimming pool?? It is an average size, 3 bed house with a garage extension and no garden. Suppose they spent 100K doing it up that is still 215K profit in 2 years. I give up, someone wake me up when the HPC is over.....

Lunacy of course, but people are stumping up the cash.

Large terrace down on Southmoor Rd with Knight Frank, total wreck, busy street, no parking and hard by another new development, 625K. Several offers over asking price.

We saw a place last year across the street, didn't have garden backing onto the canal but it was in similar nick - sold at 530K.

You can now buy a far better, bigger, classier house in West London for less money. Shame about Heathrow's constant drone of course, and the lingering air of menace after nightfall. But that would imply that it's not London sellers moving here.

But we're only talking about a few streets that attract the any-price buyers. There's stuff beyond the ring road and in the Cutteslowe catchment that can't sell at 450K.

James C Penny has a three-bed terrace on the same street for sale at 300K. It's a wreck, compared to the oh-so-typical-design-wannabe 700K house, smaller and no parking. But it is four hundred thousand pounds cheaper.

Somebody's gonna get suckered. It could be us with our money fading away in the savings accounts, or it could be the Cayenne drivers.

Call your bets...

my brother just bought a place on headley way, they accepted 330k asking as 380k

Well I was buying and have now bought and am quite pleased. I think the market's risen since I struck the deal last December, at least at the bottom end. That could be confirmation bias, but I don't think so. I can't see a comparable property on Rightmove for the same price now.

I still think houses are overvalued but its hard to call when they will correct. In the meantime you're likely to loose out.

Stuff is selling, can't be denied. UPDATE ... Second flat on Staverton Rd now under offer with Paul Murray. The agents' boards are still up, so I guess the other flats will be on the market soon.

A war of attrition grinding away in this provincial backwater.

Flats are going but OX2 house sales must be at an all time low. Moribund. The very things that keep the town so expensive - its insularity, backwardness and unwarranted self-importance - are producing a perfect and resilient bubble, clamping down on any movement between the property bands.

If rates don't go up, 4 bed family houses in OX2 will quickly climb to well over a million and then sit there for years, with only one or two moving each month in a near static market.

Petrification, but high prices.

Right, I'm off to feed the ducks and sink a few in the Anchor.

OX2 is insanely overpriced, partly because there is very little on the market. There is one Shearwater (newbuild) house left in Jericho if you have a mere 805K spare. They were originally offered at 775K but the price has been steadily going up this year as they have been selling. As for the rest you can take your pick between the tiny 300K cottages or the odd 1.5m villa with nothing in between. I can't think of a single medium size family home for sale (even in the canal side developments). And you can bet that there will be an unseemly scramble when something does come up.

The Anchor - you must live near me. What puzzles me about that pub is that it is surrounded by million pound homes yet it is deserted. Maybe things will improve since its gastro refit, or are the locals making cutbacks to save for their house deposits?

Anchor is indeed my local boozer. Used to be a real den of thieves until they tore out all the partition walls. (Probably not real thieves, North Oxford teenage softies doing faux-crim in cashmere hoodies). Now that the railway cottages on Harfield go for 400k I guess faux-crim is out.

Been too depressed to post of late. UPDATE...looks like all four flats in the Staverton mansion house now under offer. Sob.

And the property section in the Oxford Times is getting thinner and thinner...

more from the howler...

re: my post Jan 10th - aha...John D Wood hang your heads in shame. Same house in the paper this morning at 595K, 10% sliced from the asking. Buyers resist the drift outside the golden triangle and the outer villages are weakening. Still think they'll be lucky to clear 500.

Whereas...the three Frenchay Rd semis, from back in December, sale prices came through a few days ago.

895 for the stately three floor house, 800 - gadzooks - for the extended semi and 645 for the wreck.

Prices steely and rising still.

My brothers buying like crazy in east oxford, he's just about to complete on another one off divinity road, 3 bed terrace was up for 295k, they accepted 250k, so that's 45k off, he managed to secure 50k off a previous property at the end of last year. I am worried though as these were both desperate sellers who had buyers pull out. He fully expects prices to bounce back within a year and he's borrowing form friends and family (me included) to buy as many properties as he can.

Anybody else watching the oxford market? my brother wasn't happy when a 3bed semi on headley way two doors down from his went up for 250k and sold pretty quick though! granted it didn't have an extended kitchen and loft conversion and probably need refurbing but it was 80k less than he paid 3 months ago!

Don't worry Kman, according to Kirsty and Phil on Channel 4, Oxford house prices will go up by 43% over the next 5 years. That said though, I'm just as likely to grow a second kn*b.

I don't want him to loose money, poor chap is fed up of the rat race and see's this as a way out! he's purchased 4btl's in oxford in 3 yrs, granted 2 are doing well in terms of appreciation. Hopefully I can convince him to sell before it's too late

Back to the family house in North Oxford angst for a moment...

Dead market still..dross holding in the high sixes but nobody wants it, nothing else coming on.

But...

house we saw over in Jack Straws Lane last Autumn is suddenly back on.

Now this is a slummy executive bad taste stretch on the edge of Headington with a few attractive Victorian places. No services or shops within walking. Anyway, old coach house come up at 610K, needs some work but it's pretty. We offered 590K I think, even though it was a few miles to the east of where we wanted, and we're not medics so no need to be close to the vile cube monolith that is the Radcliffe.

Turned us down flat and the agent was smirking all the way to his two door beamer.

Bid frenzy up to 690K. Not worth the money but when people want something they overpay.

Anyway, the deal must have folded because today it's back on, still a bit of a wreck but now they want...

715K.

Oxford as a whole has gone down 9 percent this year according to the Halifax thread data. In OX2 they might get away with it, but I think they're struggling here.

And is that 690K plus the stamp?

Wonder how long this will linger...

I am thinking of buying a house in South Park/St Clement's. You can easily walk into city centre from there, and it is close to all of South Park, Headington Hill Park, and the Angel Greyhound Meadow. Also easy access to the hospitals and to Brookes. And did I mention being engulfed by Oxford University with the new Islamic Centre to the East. And Cowley Road nearby undergoing redevelopment and gentrification. Am I missing something or is St Clement's Oxford's next hotspot?

Deathly silence... Have I offended the North Oxford posse? What do they think about St Clement's?

Sorry Oxoniensis, been away from my desk.

Well, those phrases like "easy access" and "hotspot" in your post just troll me out baby. You don't sound like someone who wants to make a home here and who would naturally lament the fact that prices are crippling. Your St Clement's analysis is all too celebratory and banal - like a list of bullet points on a clipboard.

But if you're for real, then good luck. Personally, "hotspots" are the kiss of death to the few things I like about this town. I don't need any more portly, mid-30s, fleshy management types with their German cars moving in. So I would say, avoid the hotspots. Find a quiet corner with some local cranks and you'll have more of a home.

And on to my latest North Oxford dispatch...

After the bid frenzy around houses in December, agents have started pricing higher. House on Jack Straw's Lane - outside the zone but qualifies with medics I guess - came on at 610 last Autumn, bidded up and sold at 700. Deal must have fallen through as it's back on - at 700. Now under offer to some poor loon.

I was hoping that the excessive price rises might flatten the market, and it seems to be happening around Summertown. Places are sticking. Bad news is that high prices have brought a lot of landlords out and they're selling the family houses - three or four now on along Thorncliffe. More stock might be causing the sticking. Some agents are getting wise now - Buckell and Ballard - pricing low again and waiting for the offers to roll in. And here's the rub. Agents have learned that they can get a better price if they let a few buyers fight it out from a lower price.

Regards Norham Manor - nothing happening. One place on Southmoor at a stupid price and I think it's sticking. A few smaller places on the Golden Mile - Walton Street and extensions - but they don't seem to be flying either.

Will it all finally croak over the summer?

I would be surprised if anything on Southmoor road is sticking. I was in for No.17 a couple of weeks ago. It was in a dilapidated state, so much so that the EA (Kight Frank) didn't bother measuring up or writing up any details, but threw it open to offers in excess of 500K. After several open house viewings (and the EA coming back from holiday) the telephone auction started - 7 initial bids over 500K with 3 people going to 580+. Last I heard it was at 590K. That might sound cheap to some but it needed a lot of remedial work before it was habitable.

Other houses - JCP had a new house on Burgess Meade that again went to telephone auction. Guide Price 545, sold at 580. A load of smaller houses came up on Kingston Rd. They look tiny but all sold quickly.

As for Thorncliffe Rd we went to see a house that Buckell and Ballard had on for 595. Lots of character, but also it certainly could have done with new kitchen/extension. Loads of interest, one offer already at asking. EA advised us to register interest quickly so that we could participate in the auction process. No thanks.

That said, volume is light, we have been looking for a medium size family house since the beginning of the year and so far viewed just five houses - two deaths, two divorces and one a BTL cashing in. Of course this doesn't help prices but maybe it is an indication that people cannot afford to move on.

Croaking over the summer? Would that be the frogs in the canal?

Croaking over the summer? Would that be the frogs in the canal?
[/quote]

595k on Thorncliffe? They're practically giving it away. House opposite is on at 685k and it's a wreck, so doesn't take much to see through the Buckell and Ballard masterplan.

Cutteslowe catchment as well, so unless you're RC or disregard Ofsted's criticism you'll be forking out to educate any nippers.

785k semi on Southmoor with Penny at the moment. Can't see people bidding that up much. Nowhere to park the Trabant either. 800k and you have to drive around looking for a space - well there's high living.

But you're right Peloton, it's all selling. Have you tried the villages yet?

Peleton: You seem to be N.Oxford focused. Any reason to ignore places like Grandpont? Not as upmarket obviously, but seems like there's some decent housing to be had to the sourth & east of the centre if you go looking. I guess the majority of the larger properties are in N.Oxford however...

cheers, Phil

Not good news for the bears in North Oxford.

I just heard from a very reliable source that someone just managed to sell their 4 bed house on Waterways (fairly recent new build estate down by the canal by Berkeley Homes) in three days for a £120k profit. Admiitedly they had done a loft conversion but that much of an uplift after just two years is pretty staggering. They cannot believe they got it sold so quick and at a profit too. They expected to struggle to sell.

Hello.

I'm new and keeping watch on Southish Eastish Oxford... work on the business park, live in south Headington. I'd like to stay in the area if poss, or even better, move nearer to the shops. Unlike those chasing the new build dream, I really do quite like being able to pop round the corner for a pint of milk.

Anyway - from what I can see, houses are coming down round here - went into Chancellors the other day and two or three of the houses they were showing me - out of my price range, I might add; I can't afford them, so why waste my time showing me them? - had had their asking prices cut by £10-20K.

From what I can gather round here, Baghdad Barton will crash first - steel buildings, nasty area, etc etc, and Headington won't be far behind. The crash looks like it's close to already happening here, folks.

That said, there's a flat in one of the blocks across from us that's on for 199K - Not. A. Chance. Some people won't learn at all. It'll sell at 180 at most unless someone out there is really stupid. Oh - wait a sec...