Sunday, Feb 08, 2009
Meh
Wales Online: Good time for a house bargain
WE might be in the grip of a recession but Welsh estate agents are telling house hunters that NOW is the time to snap up a good deal.
Experts say that falling property prices have led to a high rise in fresh inquiries from potential new buyers, fuelling hopes of a quicker-than-predicted recovery in the housing market.
North Wales estate agent Melfyn Williams said last weekend was one of his busiest ever for house viewings.
“What this indicates is that, hopefully, we’ve hit the bottom and now we can look positively to when it will start recovering, rather than wondering whether it’s going to drop any more,” said Mr Williams. “That’s going to be the time when prices really start to rise, and if you haven’t bought before then, you might miss out.”
6 Comments
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1. mark said...
all agents are saying the same, even though they are dead queit, i think they are trying to boost it prior to spring hoping for a bounce...... usual lies and deceit from an unregulated team of sales gangsters........
2. Shippers said...
I'm sure the number of people visiting Porsche showrooms to ogle the cars is pretty high too, regardless of whether they can actually afford to buy one.
Then again it might be a load of Londoners looking to relocate to somewhere more laid back and cottagey. When me and the ex where looking in the hills for cottages a few years ago the prices where ridiculous, normally pushed up a bit by second home owners
3. p. doff said...
Ah, Melfyn. Past president of the NAEA. No VI there then.
Having said that, I had a conversation with a prospective buyer the other day, wanting a survey. The gist of the conversation was that she felt she must buy now, before prices shoot up further. For all the negative talk, there is still a large bunch of people who feel like that (and we've only had a couple of journo articles singing about the Halifax 1.9% increase stats. This particular (cash BTL) buyer wasn't even aware of the Halifax monthly price increase - goodness knows what she was basing her bullish opinion on - still, not my place to pass comment.
Also, spoke to a (small) builder last friday, who had just sold 4 houses on a 7 house development. I'm finding it increasingly difficult to read the market these days.
I still think the sheeple will soak up as much debt as is made available. The limiting factor on HPI will still (IMHO) be the availability of credit as it's very easy to change the sentiment of the masses with a few weeks bullish newspaper headlines.
4. p. doff said...
If you fancy throwing up your last meal, see Melfyn, partner Tim (and a sheep) on http://www.tppuk.com/
5. new user 2007 said...
No one said IQs have gone up. The market will turn up when credit conditions ease to mid-2007 levels. Is that likely to happen anytime soon? Even with all these measures we are only talking about stabilising the market. The hundreds of billions that used to come into the system from abroad via SIVs etc are not going to for years to come. Therefore, if we are stuck with liquidity conditions on par with those in 2005, then that is the highest that prices will go. All this, however, has occured before unemployment starts shooting up and amid Eastern Europeans going home. Sure your friend will get a great mortgage deal, but no one will be there to rent out her property:)
Your BTL friend is reading things from people like Mr ASSetz. He is still in denial but can seem plausible to the stupid. Given this asset bubble, like any, requires morons who dangerously consider themselves "clever money", until they disappear we will continue hearing how anyone but them is an idiot. Yes, if anyone bought before 2003 they are probably safe, but there are many more who will now be seeing themselves going into negative equity. Renting is dead money? The same people who say this also borrowed so much that they only pay the interest...that is merely a long term rental agreement with the bank, only the borrower pays for the maintenance!
The sites she reads do not mention things like Japan. There is less land per person and interest rates have been around zero since 1992, yet prices there fell from 1990 for years, and even now remain below that level. The US has had rates very low for over a year now, yet house prices carry on dropping. "An Englishman's house is his castle"? Give me a break. Continental Europe is the exception, Everyone else in the world also wants a house in the same way we do. A great one I heard on a blog was a comment about us being an island...what exactly are non-island countries meant to do when they run out of land.
"Clever money" has now gone in several times since mid-2007 and lots it, yet they carry on doing it. What surprises me is that the Nationwide figures were put on a back-burner by the media (although, I suppose an index (Halifax) doing the opposite of the last 10 months is more news than an index (Nationwide) that just follows what it has been doing for a year).
6. gardeniadotnet said...
Melfyn and Tim: Mon Mam Cymru's answer to Ant and Dec?
Dim workio.