cash_buyer

I heard it on Radio 4 just before 9:00. I couldn't believe it. Reminded the wife about her tirade last month about living in a rental house for the last five years!

I firmly believe the that the falls we have seen so far are only the beginning. Even two of three more interests rates reductions will not prevent a further 35% drop on top of the 15% we have seen already.

Asking prices for rents are falling fast where I live. House are not selling despite price cuts so the owners are trying to rent them.

You can't relay on Property Snake alone since it only tracks a limited number of websites. You should install Property Bee. I have started to see asking prices reduced in the South East.

Check out Lot 10: 65, Tideslea Path, Greenwich, London, Greater London, SE28 0LY sold for £349,995 on 09/08/05 http://www.houseprices.co.uk/e.php?q=65+ti...a+path&n=10 Sold at auction for only £172,000! That's a bid drop!

I think I am correct in saying that these number are for transactions before the Norther Rock issue. The monthly figures should start to turn negative from next month onwards. The volumes based upon value number are very interesting. I am sure that the high volume of expensive properties is skewing the average price.

http://www.housepricecrash.co.uk/forum/ind.../news+rightmove

The BBC did report last month's rise but failed to report the preceding month's big fall of 2.7%.

Yes again the BBC have failed to report on the latest Rightmove index price falls!!

Don't forget that last time around we enjoyed a significant discount on our repayments in the form of MIRAS tax relief. For any one in the higher tax band it was 40%.

Sorry, I posted the wrong link. Thank you OnlyMe for posting the correct one.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtm.../cnhedge130.xml

All of you bulls who mocked RB on his posts on the trend in the LR figures, take note!

I was looking through the results of the latest auction on the Barnard Marcus website and came across this: http://www.houseprices.co.uk/e.php?q=chalg...harrow&n=10 Chalgrove as bought for £670K in November of 2002 and sold for £2m in August 2006. It was put up for auction in July 2007 with a reserve of £1.3m! The bidding opened at £1.2 and went up to £1.27. http://www.barnardmarcusauctions.co.uk/ (You will need to click on "last auction" and then click on the July date). Some one has lost a lot of money!

It appears that the number of properties remaining unsold is slowing increasing each month. It drops from 82% in March to 71% in July. http://www.barnardmarcusauctions.co.uk/ (You need to click on "Current Auction" on the right hand side of the screen)

Very interesting article. They actually discussed at .5% rise! "King also hinted that there was a debate at last week's interest rate meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee about the merits of a half point interest rate increase to 5.75 pct instead of the quarter point rise enacted." We should not forget that Fiona at the Nationwide has warned of a crash if rates rise to 5.75%!

This is exactly what is happening in the US right now but prices over there are still falling: "U.S. Median Home Price Tumbles to 2-Year Low in Slump (Update2) By Kathleen M. Howley May 15 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. median home price tumbled to a two-year low in the first quarter as prices fell in almost half of U.S. cities, the National Association of Realtors said. The median price for houses and condominiums slid 1.8 percent to $212,300 in the first three months of this year, the lowest since the first quarter of 2005 when it was $199,700, the Chicago- based real estate trade group said. The median price for a single- family home fell in 62 of the 145 metropolitan areas the group studied. Tumbling prices sparked an increase in sales as bargain shoppers snapped up the cheaper properties. Seasonally adjusted, home sales rose 2.4 percent to an annualized 6.41 million from 6.26 million in the fourth quarter, the association said. Compared with a year earlier, the number of sales fell 6.6 percent. The first quarter's sales will probably be the highest of the year, the realtors said. Purchases of previously owned homes likely will fall 3.5 percent in the second quarter to an annualized pace of 6.19 million, increasing to 6.34 million by the end of 2007, the group said in a May 8 forecast. Median prices probably will slide in the second and third quarters and be flat in the final three months of the year, the realtors said. Prices will begin to rise in 2008, though at less than a percentage point every quarter, the group forecast. Slump Persists Declining prices, coupled with a report today that shows foreclosures are continuing to rise, demonstrate that the year- long housing slump isn't abating. U.S. homebuilders have already said that the spring selling season for new houses was a disappointment after earlier this year forecasting the beginning of a housing recovery. Tighter lending standards and the collapse of several subprime mortgage companies have made it more difficult for buyers to get home loans. U.S. foreclosure filings jumped 62 percent in April from a year earlier and the number of households falling behind on mortgages probably will climb further this year as home prices fall and lending standards rise, RealtyTrac Inc. said. California, Florida and Ohio led the U.S. in filings. There were 147,708 default notices, auction sale letters and bank repossessions last month as declining prices made it harder to refinance, particularly for borrowers with poor or limited credit, the Irvine, California-based seller of foreclosure data said today. April's total compares with 91,168 filings a year earlier. Foreclosures are being ``fueled by a combustible mix of risky loans taken out in the last few years -- many in the subprime market -- and slowing home price appreciation,'' said James Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac, in a statement. To contact the reporter on this story: Kathleen M. Howley in Boston at kmhowley@bloomberg.net . Last Updated: May 15, 2007 11:16 EDT"

You can get a new 911 (997) in around 8 weeks now. Last year, the waiting list was 9 months.

I almost choked on my coffee when I read this: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6638413.stm "A big factor in the relentless rise of house prices has been speculation - the belief that prices will continue rising, no matter what. Should that view change, spreading fears that the market is about to slow and prices drop, then potential buyers might hold back and the predictions of a slowdown could become a self-fulfilling prophecy."

Can you imagine Rightmove.com providing a report like this?

"It said first-time buyers are spending nearly a fifth, 18.3 per cent, of their income on interest repayments - the largest amount since 1991. Then interest rates were 12.8 per cent, the average first-time buyer was 27 and borrowing £36,480. Today, the average advance is £113,995." We should not forget that MIRAS was in effect in 1991 giving most people a 40% discount on their repayments!

This has been the case for a few years, but a lot of things have changed from 05. The US is falling disproving the view that you need a recession to kick off a crash Prices are falling in Ireland, Spain and France Interest rates will soon be 5.5% and rising as opposed to 3.75% Lots of fixed rate loans are coming to an end Bankruptcies are at all time highs Sentiment is turning

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/busi...ticle786871.ece House prices plunge in Blair's constituency Homeowners in Tony Blair’s constituency suffered the largest falls in house prices seen in the UK last year. According to figures published today by the Nationwide, while prices throughout the whole of England rose by nearly 2 per cent, prices in the North fell by 2.1 per cent in 2005, with the biggest local fall seen in Sedgefield, which the Prime Minister has represented as an MP since 1983. "The price falls in Sedgefield are a reflection of the poorer economic condictions in the area and a weaker labour market," Fionnuala Earley, Nationwide's group economist, told Times Online. "The North East is one of the poorest regions in the UK." Ms Earley added that prices had also fallen back after overshooting. House price inflation carried on rising in the North for longer than the UK as a whole. It reached a peak of more than 36 per cent at the start of 2003, significantly higher than the 26 per cent peak in the UK as a whole, according to Nationwide. Related Links Just what is going on with the housing market? House prices are set to rise Don’t get suckered by the house price rally Overall, the lender's figures reinforced suggestions that the property market has achieved a soft landing. Price growth in England came in at a subdued 1.8 per cent for the whole of 2005, while prices fell a shade in Wales, by 0.1 per cent. However, there were still areas where prices forged ahead. Property prices grew by 13.2 per cent in Northern Ireland and 9.3 per cent in Scotland in 2005. Dundee and Angus saw the fastest rate of house price growth in Britain, spiralling by 24.5 per cent. In England, the fastest growth was seen in the City of Manchester, where prices rose by 11.9 per cent. Tony Blair owns a six-bedroomed house in Sedgefield. His constituency’s soft housing market will add to the Prime Minister's already mixed record when it comes to investing in property. In 2002, the Prime Minister was involved in scandal when it was revealed that the convicted fraudster Peter Foster had helped his wife, Cherie Blair, negotiate the purchase of two luxury flats in Bristol. In 2004, the Blairs spent £3.6 million on a Georgian townhouse in Connaught Square in London, with a mortgage reportedly secured on Mr Blair's future earnings. Amid suggestions the Blairs had overpaid some analysts said the purchase represented on of the enduring political mysteries of the year: why buy at the top of the property cycle? However, the outlook in 2006 for property owners such as the Blairs looks reasonably bright, according to the Nationwide. The lender said today that house price growth accelerated in the final quarter of 2005. Prices increased by 1.5 per cent between October and December, their fastest quarterly increase for more than a year. Compared with the fourth quarter last year prices were 3.2 per cent higher, making the price of a typical house in the UK £158,745. Prices accelerated in all of the UK regions in the final quarter, with the exception of the Wales, Northern and East Midlands regions where prices all fell. The more positive data followed a report from the Halifax yesterday which showed that property prices had risen at their fastest annual pace for seven months during December. Average house prices nationwide jumped by 1 per cent last month, on the heels of a similar gain in November, according to the survey from the nation’s biggest lender. Looking ahead, Nationwide said the rate of house price growth across the UK to differ according to the strength of local jobs markets, ranging from falls of 2 per cent to gains of 5 per cent. According to Nationwide first time buyers in Greater London find it hardest to afford to buy. More than 66 per cent of take home pay is eaten up in mortgage payments compared to only 33 per cent in Scotland. But affordability improved in London and the South East in 2005. During the year the proportion of take home pay taken up by mortgage payments fell by more than 2.5 percentage points in London. Due to rapidly increasing prices, affordability deteriorated most in Northern Ireland where mortgage payments account for 44.2 per cent of take home pay compared to 40 per cent at the end of 2004.

Same in my area. I have finally started to see "Price Reduction" notices again on my local agents websites.

http://www.moneyextra.com/news/news-house-prices-029024.html House prices stalled in March - but first time buyers continued to come under pressure, says Moneyextra. Average property values fell in March to their lowest level since October last year. At £220,303, the average price is up just 4.8% on year-ago levels and is actually down 1.2% on February's £222,9231. Property values fell both for first time buyers and for home movers. However, the fall of just £891 - to an average £176,205 - for first time buyers - underlines that this is the sector of the housing market still experiencing the greatest price pressures. Despite the falls seen in the last month, first time buyers are still facing the largest increases in prices year on year, with the average price experienced by those looking to buy a house for the first time rising by 5.9%. Robin Amlôt of Moneyextra said, "It looks like the mortgage market is beginning to slow down. The prospect of higher interest rates on the way and talk of base rate rising as high as 7.5% next year will have a dampening effect on the housing market over the coming months." The average value of mortgages actually completed by AWD Moneyextra customers in March fell again to its lowest level for three months at £142,708.75. Meanwhile, the most popular mortgage lender in March was Lloyds TSB subsidiary Cheltenham & Gloucester."