We STRd from Clapham in March 2006 to Weybridge in Surrey.

Renting is no dream we have already had to move once as the landlord wanted to sell up. Moving costs are money down the toilet and it pissed the wife off hugely.

Anyhow - although we are happy to sit on cash (probably through March 08) - I just cant help looking, and where are we looking - Weybridge one of the most expensive places in the country.

The wife does most of the looking and from time to time she'll pull me along to a viewing - but nothing doing.

Anyhow enough background I went into a local EA this morning to ask about a property in the window.

Here is his view of the market which I think was pretty balanced in my humble opinion.

- 2 years ago it was panic buying but now properties rarely go to sealed bids (as then) but most go close to asking
- prices still edging up.
- most of the EA chains (he is an independent) are targeted on instructions as well as sales hence a number of properties that are overpriced (all things are relative) and sticking
- still a sellers market with shortages of property at all levels
- views stamp duty as the big issue at the price levels we are looking - why move and pay stamp duty on a new place when you could spend the equivalent on improvements and stay put - the builders are all still busy
- on interest rates he says he has not seen too much influence except their contacts in banks that deal with repossesions are now handling 100 files each rather than 10 that they used to - this is on all price bands according to him - now that is staggering.

Think I will just carry on renting and hope my landlord is taking a long term view.

i live just down the road from weybridge, and am in the process of selling to relocate.

house prices in the area are insane, and continue to grow at among the fastest rates in the country...i believe in 2006, prices in the borough of elmbridge (to which weybridge belongs) showed among the highest percentage increases in the country (certainly in the top 10 of all boroughs, at an average rise of >20%). largest rises were seen in detached properties. and remember, prices here are already so high, that the absolute increases (as opposed to percentage) are insane.

i bought my house here under 3 years ago, and have to move due to changes in domestic and professional circumstances. i put my house on the market at a time when i thought it would be less than ideal (start of december) and had 10 viewings within a day, resulting in 2 asking price offers the day afterwards. ultimately ive ended up selling my house at a total increase of 35% in 2 and a half years.

there is no clear evidence in this area that things are slowing down. its a desirable and incredibly affluent area to live in, given its perfect position for commuting to london. properties are being snapped up as soon as they come on the market, often even before they hit agents websites or windows, particularly family homes.

if i had the confidence and the disposable income, i wouldnt be selling...id be holding on to my existing property, and buying a new place in the area im relocating to. i personally think elmbridge is going to turn out to be a goldmine in the next few years, so long as you have the cash to be able to get a reasonable amount of equity in houses with extremely high asking prices.

im not so sure that hanging on and renting in the hope that prices will start to fall is going to turn out to be a winning strategy in this particular area.

I live in Elmbridge too - it's why I bought there - in the doldrums in 2004. I looked at the market and what I could get then and bought carefully - we were lucky enough to be able to get a decent sized house. The market is insane - you'd be amazed how little £1M gets you and more to the point, it would amaze you how little supply there is. It's prime commuterville, it's alreeady got money, fewer scrotes than most places, close to London and airports, the Chelsea 'kudos' and it offers leafy bits less than 30 minutes from London.... and good schooling.

As the EA said, the people who have ridden the equity waves can't pay the stamp duty but can't move somewhere else, for work or other reasons, so they stay where they are - and extend.

Both my immediate neighbours are approaching 70 - they paid £25K for their houses in the 1970's and have not moved since. Bob would have more hope than them of moving here now.

Everything you say is true.

Some truly (in my view) dire property has come on in the last few weeks at prices that even my wife says are out of all line with her expectations but the viewings are still back to back.

I am increasingly worried that if we want to live in Weybridge (close enough but not too close to my wife's parents) we will have to carry on renting and hope that the rate our savings pot increases exceeds the growth in house prices. The prime sellers seem to be those forced by death, divorce or an incumbent family that has outgrown the space (the latter hardly being a qualifier for our young family). A further hike in interest rates may take a few more prospective buyers out of the game but with so little property on the market I cant see that this is going to make that much of a difference. As regards incumbent home owners and looking at the demographics I would have to concede to Rachman that the type of property we want to buy does not currently seem to be occupied by recent over-leveraged buyers likely to tipped over the brink by 25bps on rates.

Was on for £625K, now offers over £500K, has been on for yonks

http://www.gpees.co.uk/property-details.ph...mend=1174063502

Was on for £975K, now £930K, came on this year

http://www.findaproperty.com/displayprop.a...p;agentid=00662

Was £1m now £975K, came on this year

http://www.findaproperty.com/displayprop.a...p;agentid=00662

Not taking massive comfort from this - still not much on the market and seemingly good demand except where agent or vendor have gotten a little too greedy on the valuation.

that's Oatlands - it's full of newbuilds and it's not the best part of Weybridge and too close to the railway - the £975K one is neither here nor there as a reduction - and it's just bland modern stuff.

The middle one's a quite a bit smaller and it's still only 5% down on the prior asking price - and it's not that big either - or with any character at all - I'd have priced it as just about £925K anyway (as a guesstimate)

the cottage is an odd one - there's a small lodge house on near me a developer bought to redevelop - it's sat stagnating since he could not get the planning - most buyers don't want older properties like that on the whole round there - I'd be buying a cottage in West End Village near Esher instead....

the best value round there at the moment is this one - probably out of FTB's reach (joke, OK), but relatively, it's good value for the area - private estate, good local schools, good size plot, (honest).

OK, it needs £100K to £150K on it, depending on what you want to do with the back and side - or it'll get knocked down and another footballer's gaff built on the site, but the missus likes it.....

http://www.dezrez.com/DRApp/Search.ASP?WCI...mp;WCE=00821564

Thanks for the Cobham tip - I'll keep it in mind.

I agree with you about the lack of character in Oatlands - but it is on the doorstep of Cleeves - a very well rated state school.

Here is my next favourite for a reduction.

http://www.findaproperty.com/displayprop.a...p;agentid=00662

Reduced from £695K to £675K - been on since the beginning of the year

http://www.findaproperty.com/displayprop.a...p;agentid=04743

I know its only £20K but against a supposedly red hot rising market that (according to Nationwide) rose 2% in the first two months of the year then thats close to a 5% relative reduction.

I just wonder how an EA raises the topic of a price reduction in the current context.......

Still cant get over excited about this, but interesting anyway.

http://www.findaproperty.com/displayprop.a...p;agentid=00662

£30K reduction.

or 4% on an already high asking price - on a very small 3 bed house in an OK, but not the best area of Weybridge - I suggest they are armchancing anyway - this was about £550K 18 months ago...... (as a guesstimate)

Earplug, the Dutch/Georgian cross thing - admittedly it's not big at under 2000sq foot, but it's got decent sized rooms - I think it's about £50K overpriced, but I thought that about a 60's horror near me (same size and same price) - needed total revamp like that one - they stuck it out and got their £800K in the end - surprised me - I think they may get close to the £800K on that one....

http://www.findaproperty.com/displayprop.a...p;agentid=00662

£975K to £930K to £895K

http://www.findaproperty.com/displayprop.a...p;agentid=05171

£695K to £669K

There is now a pattern of reductions generally in my view of properties first priced around the turn of the New Year.

Well its been about a month since I said I was seeing a general pattern of reductions in Weybridge. There seems to be more property coming on to the market. Still not much on at the top end (c.£1m) but nonetheless not difficult to find reductions in this price level.

£1.2m to £1.1m

http://www.findaproperty.com/displayprop.a...p;agentid=00662

£1.1m to £950K

http://www.findaproperty.com/displayprop.a...p;agentid=09972

Interestingly the very top end £3m+ is seeing a lot more new property coming on (relative to is proportion of the property stock). A lot of this property is on corporate lets by investors - maybe the smart money is finally moving on ?

Earplug, problem is they were joke priced in the first place.

They were probably in the £800Ks 12 months ago - there's been arm chancing on the price.

The less ugly one is under 2,500 sq foot, the other is the usual 60's horror with a naff tacked on convservatory (whether it's Amdega etc. or not)

I am seeing properties I should have priced at £895K ish selling at an asking price of £1.1-£1.2M (we'll see what the price was, but given they sold in a week, it must be close). I should agree that there's a lot of movement further up - particularly (in KT11) between £1.5M and £4M. I am also seeing everything sub £500K shifting quickly if it's a house (not a flat).

There is still next to nothing for sale in the 'middle' market between say £750K and £1.5M.

I can't justify moving up to a larger house as it's going to cost me an extra £1M to £1.5M to buy an extra 2 beds and 2 baths and a separate games room (about 1,000 sq footiish) - so instead I am staying put and working out whether it's worth extending where we are to do the same to it.

thanks Rachman - would be good to see what your experiences are of places you have been watching when they show up on the Land Registry.

I agree that some of the prices seem outlandish but would you not agree that the first thing to go when the market softens is the froth off the top.......

We seem to have run into a bit of a buyer's strike in Weybridge. Several houses in the £1m to £1.3m range have had asking price reductions of £100k and the agents are getting twitchy. On one house (divorce) and another (STR), the agents are indicating that for a no chain buyer an offer of a further £150K below the revised asking would be seriously considered.

Tide has turned..........

....but it needs to go out a f@uk of a long way, even before we get back to 2005 prices

Cobham and Oxshott have slightly similar things - BUT the stuff that's not selling was £300K overpriced in the first place (IMO) - one house was up at £1.5M - they left it two weeks then cut it to £1.35M - £150K off, great you'd think - actually no, it's still £100k-150K over what I thought it was worth.

There's one at the top of my street, it's decent sized (somewhere between 3,500 and 4,000 sq foot (family sized)) but he wants £2M for it and it's NOTHING special at all - nice enough, but not particularly private, not particularly well done, not particularly large plot - nothing that makes you go 'wow' - I'd have said about £1.5-1.6M. He's been there since the mid 1990s when it was new and by his age, he's downsizing anyway...

I think that the reductions are just from the take the michael numbers they had up in the first place - which have gone stratospheric for anything above 2,000 sq foot in the last 18 months...

I must admit I cannot comprehend the prices in Borough of Edenbridge. Mundane semis like this

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-156...=3&tr_t=buy

£685k for 1600 sq ft with part of that a crappy roof extension

It's not in the same league as this kind of property, and a longer commute to London I think:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-827...=3&tr_t=buy

The properties are not in the same league and neither are the High Streets.

Weybridge has a beautiful and desirable High Street, whereas Woking, well it's just a 70s planning blot on the landscape.

Location, location, location

Woking town centre is a bit of a mess, they could definitely do with knocking down the Toys R Us (and much of the rest of it). But it's certainly convenient and there's a large stock of good quality residential property and green space. Outside the town centre it's well-established family property, especially in Horsell where that property is.

I can see the appeal for the wealthy of Weybridge something like this

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-159...=1&tr_t=buy

or indeed this

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-151...=4&tr_t=buy

where you are buying a proper lifestyle.

But to put up with a cruddy semi like that doesn't make sense to me.

"Weybridge has a beautiful and desirable High Street"

With an ever increasing amount of chavs

We are in Weybridge and will be upgrading at some point in the future. Was doing some research at the weekend

I'm sure that this was originally on for £700k

11 Pine Grove

http://propertysnake.co.uk/site/detail/17880935

This one has stamp duty paid

http://www.dezrez.com/drapp/Search.ASP?WCI...p;WCE=001229130


Looking at Globrix there has never been more choice in the 500k - £1m range

As an aside, went to look at this new build in Castle Road

http://www.antlerhomes.co.uk/content/devel...te.asp?site=214

£1.5m for what can't be more than 1/8 acre ployt - and it was under offer!

That is true, but I still think Weybridge has got less chavs than most. Everywhere has got them now.

I certainly would not say that Weybridge High Street is 'beautiful and desirable', though. It is 'ok'. I remember the first time that I went there, and I could not believe how bland (even very slightly run down) it was in parts, considering this is one of the very wealthiest towns in the country.

There are some really nice bars and restaurants, and the place has quite a nice feel to it, but it is just not as exceptional as it should be. Perhaps my expectations are just too high - neighbouring Woking and Walton have town centres that are not very nice at all. They are not as wealthy as Weybridge, but are hardly poor towns in their own right.

Weybridge is a funny place in terms of prices. I remember it went completely mental in 2000 and rather overreached itself and was then pretty static for a while whilst the rest of the world caught up.


If you look at the data on this link (rather than the graph) http://www.upmystreet.com/property-prices/.../weybridge.html you can see that average prices hit the £300k mark as early as 2000

2000 (oct-dec) £353,379 (144)
2000 (jul-sep) £350,188 (128)
2000 (apr-jun) £298,710 (165)
2000 (jan-mar) £298,322 (107)

Just prior to that they had been only around £200k, so basically it shot up 50% in one year

1999 (oct-dec) £215,230 (158)
1999 (jul-sep) £228,468 (197)
1999 (apr-jun) £195,003 (144)
1999 (jan-mar) £209,564 (84)
1998 (oct-dec) £222,976 (100)
1998 (jul-sep) £179,801 (134)

But since then it has taken nearly 6 years to get to over £500k and so was much more steady.
2008 (jan-mar) £577,441 (94)
2007 (oct-dec) £519,022 (146)
2007 (jul-sep) £554,488 (182)
2007 (apr-jun) £534,699 (163)
2007 (jan-mar) £651,356 (144)
2006 (oct-dec) £443,057 (196)
2006 (jul-sep) £562,450 (213)
2006 (apr-jun) £565,108 (176)
2006 (jan-mar) £464,537 (127)

I don't know how quickly it will fall back, it is kind of an odd place as house prices go.

Price drop in Cobham

£975 down to £920

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property/22197758

Went for £661 in 2004

Ockham

Was 950000

http://www.prestigehomesnetwork.co.uk/Prop...rence=912015651

Then 899000

http://www.primelocation.com/uk-property-f...ls/id/CUEH57793

Now down to 850000

BBC programme "OPEN HOUSE" in Weybridge

This was a good one to watch. They admit that the market is dire. 3 bedder in Weybridge on at 310,000. Open day at the house and ONLY 2 potential buyers turned up. No offers.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00ddxx9

Woking town's centre is very well-stocked with shops and while not the most genteel town in Surrey after hours, it's hardly murder mile.

I totally agree. It is more the 'shabbiness' that I was talking about. Woking is a bit rough in the evenings, but not as bad as Guildford is now. I think that problems in the evening are more driven by the size of the town. Guildford is packed with nightclubs and cheap pubs and therefore attracts people from miles around.

Now down to £799,950

http://www.gpees.co.uk/property-details-gptrps-COM080407

We looked at this house 18 months ago when moving to Weybridge. It requires a fair amount of work and was originally on the market at offers over £725,000. I liked the house so kept an eye on houseprices to see what it sold for, but it never appeared. The house came back on the market last week. Apparently the seller had accepted £760,000 18 months ago but the deal had fallen through. The house was advertised for OIEO £725,000, and Curchods were very bullish that this would sell straight away. Imagine my surprise when after a week it has been cut to £700,000

http://www.curchods.com/property.asp?sType...;iPropID=491217

£995,000

http://www.johndwood.co.uk/site/search/#/l...s/buy-WEY080277

down to

£930,000
http://web.aspasia.net/pls/karpeta/rv?id=5683

Now down to £725,000

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-232...p;mam_disp=true

Not Weybridge, but had dinner with friends in Cobham, and they had two interesting bits of info

1). They were about to rent a house that was for sale for £850k/£3000p/m rent. They mananged to knock it down to £2000p/m
2). Estate agent said that there are 50 £1m homes about to come onto the market in the next few months.

If there are 50 of them, I can't see them being £1m for long.