Saturday, Sep 04, 2010
Canary in the big pit, or one-month fluke?
Western Mail: Optimism building in Wales housing market
WHILE recovery in the UK housing market continues to be slow, Wales seems to be bucking the trend with the number of houses sold in August up 28.5% compared with July. Overall, the numbers for Wales are ahead of the UK picture, where the number of house sales showed only a slight increase of 0.9% in August. “With the likelihood of interest rates staying low for the next few months, the market in Wales is looking very healthy, particularly with the number of properties coming on the market, which might be a reflection of the number of people choosing to holiday at home this year with more time to think and act on their next house move.”
Posted by drewster @ 10:15 AM (662 views) Add Comment
8 Comments
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1. mark said...
I can honestly say this is not what i have witnessed in parts of wales, the market seems more depressed than in the mainland..lol
2. jack c said...
Titaniccaptain lives in Wales and his findings are completely contrary to to those in the article.
3. str 2007 said...
You beat me to it Jack , TC reckons it's very depressed.
4. titaniccaptain said...
Bullsh*t...............to a certain degree.....
Don't forget that plenty of people will be opting for a cheap valleys house which they can pick up for next to nothing.....even if the areas are not the best. Example of what you can get if you just need a roof over your head and aren't too fussy for under £60k....some people just want to be out of debt. And all these houses are within commuting distance to Cardiff and Swansea.
http://www.home.co.uk/search/results.htm?MAP_SEARCH=1&high=60000&lat=51.694806&long=3.472252&radius=4&page=3
I wouldn't live there unless I had to but I would live there before living in London for two reasons.
The people are friendly and the crime rate is lower than even the best parts of London and the suburbs.
5. titaniccaptain said...
By the way.....speaking of Wales I have decided that I actually NEED a 4x4 for the snow seeing as I am living in the Brecon Beacons and when the snow comes down normal cars are useless period.....So I bought my first 4x4 today....A 10 year old Nissan Terrano for £2k....very happy with it. only got 90,000 miles on the clock and owned previously by an elderly couple who bought it for the same reason as myself...the snow...
Here is a good reason why I bought this particular make and model!!!!!!
6. drewster said...
tc,
I'm a bit of a greenie but there's nothing wrong woth a 4x4 if you live in the mountains! The Fiat Panda 4x4 is one of the best choices - partly because it doesn't look like a Chelsea tractor!
Back to the article.... apparently the "staycation" phenomenon is encouraging people to buy second homes closer to home, and Wales has some of the best beaches in the UK. It's plausible but something still doesn't smell right. It could be a statistical anomaly - there might be so few houses sold in Wales (population: c.3m) that it doesn't take much to cause a jump in the percentages. Or it could just be a mendacious publicity-seeking company - I've never heard of Agency Express or their Property Activity Index.
7. titaniccaptain said...
@Drewster
I think its a bit of all the aforementioned points you raise....
On the second home point....f its cheaper in Wales with very nice beaches, less touristy, less crime, less populated....where you going to buy?
"It could be a statistical anomaly - there might be so few houses sold in Wales (population: c.3m) that it doesn't take much to cause a jump in the percentages"......absolutely....I monitor many different areas for sales and trust me there are so few selling that its a very scary time for estate agents here....they want a crash more than anyone just so they can sell ANYTHING...in the absence of high profit margins and high turnover, low profit margins and high turnover is preferable to low profit and ZERO turnover.
I used to work for the Western Mail many years ago (Actually had a pint with my old boss from there last week...he has much time on his hands since retiring and likes the thought of passing time in good real ale pubs....A GREAT MAN) and most of the journos there were p*ssed half the time (One was so drunk he parked his car on the middle of a roundabout and fell asleep.....he now writes for a newspaper in Argentina) so i would take anything they say with a pinch of salt.
Yes Drewster I agree about the 4x4 thing......Always hated the idea of having one but after being snowed in numerous times for the past few years whilst living in the middle of nowhere I have given in.
Now that I am (In a few week will be after the new kitchen and stove is fitted) living somewhere that is very remote with a 2 mile hill approaching where I live, I must have one....simple.
Personally I quite like the idea of strapping on a rucksack and wading through the snow to the nearest village and filling up on essentials then walking home with a 4 hour stop in the local pub then staggering back home....the great thing is the food doesn't heat up in the pub spoiling the contents because you leave the rucksack outside the pub in the snow....BRILLIANT....Mrs TC can only get annoyed about the state I am in when I arrive home and not have to worry about the condition of the contents.
If my wife cannot get to the shops at least once every two days then she mutates and it causes her to bleed and have something called a period.
However if she can go shopping once every two days then she doesn't have to go through this thing called a period and the mutation is halted.........well that's what she tells me anyway.
Only a fool would disagree with her.
8. Adam Smith Fan said...
I moved to Calgary, Alberta a few years back. Snow on the road is a potential problem nine months of the year here. So I too needed a 4-wheel drive. However I went for a Subaru Outback estate car. All the benefits of 4WD traction on icy hills and corners but the fuel consumption of a normal-sized car. Excellent!