Henrik

There's nothing wrong with buying a house you like. You get to do whatever you want in it/to it, without periodic inspections, being kicked out for no good reason etc etc. Many good reasons to buy. If you have enough savings etc to weather a couple of months out of work, and / or doing maintenance to the house, then why not? Even if houses fall in value, then you've saved stamp duty, you got a couple of % off, and you dont have to pay rent. This should all soften the blow if prices fall in nominal terms.

This must depend on the agency. I've just had an offer accepted on a house, and the sellers agent actually called my agent first to verify that I had sstc'd. They wouldn't even take offer until I had had a chat with the mortgage advisor to make sure I had enough income / deposit to realistically get finance. There was no pressure to take a mortgage out, so I don't think they passed me on just for some commission I don't think agents like houses falling through for these reasons more than anyone else tbh.

Crazy talk, are you sure you're not a VI Troll?

Same! I don't think they're outright lying, but I would be very interested in knowing what the mix of properties is, and how the weights between e.g north / south / London have changed over time. For example, if a year ago, they were mainly lending up north, but have started lending more in the south, presumably the average would go up just from this, unless it's corrected for.

Nothing yet - might be late again this month?

Oh I see, yes definitely agree on the reason for indexes being published (*maybe* with the exception of the land registry, but as it's several months out of date it's more or less useless IMO). However, at least now they acknowledge that the market isn't as buoyant as they'd like, so that's a positive in my book

Which particular quote are you referring to?

https://www.estateagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2019/5/house-prices-are-like-brexit--stuck-floundering-going-nowhere I'd almost say that's balanced, considering its from EA today

If that is your concern, then I suggest buying in the countryside far away from other people.

I think it's a great idea as well. English houses are so pokey anyway most of the time, so maybe this will allow some to be made reasonable without the owners having to spend often far in excess of 100k on the difference to a bigger house + stamp duty + moving costs.

Hmm, I know the RICS is retrospective, but unfortunately a lot of the houses I've been keeping an eye at in my local area, which were previously sticking for ages, have gone SSTC. I dont know what they actually sell for, but at least two were advertised for more than the ceiling price (which is totally mental), but they've also gone SSTC In Bromley/Orpington in SE London/Kent. I'm hoping that it's not the beginning of something and just a bit of a spring/summer bounce, but who knows with these crazy people paying these prices.

Nothing as of yet. Are we sure on the dates?

The problem with this kind of (probably) intentional misrepresentation is that it's the first thing that people hear about something that sticks in their minds. I'd be willing to bet that at least 50% of people who read a statement like that wouldn't even question the accuracy, let alone go and do any research of their own. Its probably the reason that the same commenters on e.g BBC HYS are always the first to comment - they're bots that spring into action as soon as the comments open, probably to get the biggest mindshare off the bat.

But to be fair, the areas further out of the centre might be nicer for other reasons than just pure cost.

Might be a Brexit play... When it's cancelled, presumably the pound will regain some of what it lost since 2016. On the other hand, if that was my vet and I was a billionaire, I'd probably do Forex futures instead