The Market Stalling Or Grinding To A Halt?

[cypher007]

noticed where i live there are a lot of STC's which have not completed after several months now. is this a sign of the market not functioning without FTB's?

[Pent Up]

It's been like that for a year now.

[man o' the year]

Incomplete chains and desperate vendors holding on to the only offer they are likely to get.

Often collapse due failure to obtain mortgages and patience of those in chain finally running out.

[rantnrave]

Incomplete chains and desperate vendors holding on to the only offer they are likely to get.

Often collapse due failure to obtain mortgages and patience of those in chain finally running out.

Who still makes money re surveys being done etc?

[Number79]

Ea's not taking them off rightmove so as to use them as advertising that the ea is selling places?

Lots of sstc here but I know of one still on rightmove that now has new people living in it.

[TheCountOfNowhere]

noticed where i live there are a lot of STC's which have not completed after several months now. is this a sign of the market not functioning without FTB's?

The countesses flat in london exchanged yesterday...it took 5 months to go through !!!!

We have no idea what the delay was.

[WageslaveX14]

My room mate at work had an offer accepted on a house about a month ago, but last week the bank's valuation came back £50k under the amount she and her boyfriend had offered.

They were selling an Islington flat and buying a small house, also in Islington. Apparently loads of equity (bought first flat in 2000), but now unable to go through with purchase unless vendor will accept £50k less than previously, which is unlikely as they had already knocked £50k off the original asking price.

Another chain collapses.

[The Masked Tulip]

My room mate at work had an offer accepted on a house about a month ago, but last week the bank's valuation came back £50k under the amount she and her boyfriend had offered.

They were selling an Islington flat and buying a small house, also in Islington. Apparently loads of equity (bought first flat in 2000), but now unable to go through with purchase unless vendor will accept £50k less than previously, which is unlikely as they had already knocked £50k off the original asking price.

Another chain collapses.

So sad. Odd really, in London prices only ever go up.

[Bruce Banner]

A house, two doors down from us, has been on the market since summer 2007.

The owner is one tenacious son of a bitch, original asking price was £380K, dropped to 'offers in the region of £380K', and finally, after two years on the market, in summer 2009, they dropped the price to £370K and there it has stayed ever since.

This March, there was great excitement, it went SSTC on Rightmove, but last week it was back to unsold and still at £370K .

[cypher007]

A house, two doors down from us, has been on the market since summer 2007.

The owner is one tenacious son of a bitch, original asking price was £380K, dropped to 'offers in the region of £380K', and finally, after two years on the market, in summer 2009, they dropped the price to £370K and there it has stayed ever since.

This March, there was great excitement, it went SSTC on Rightmove, but last week it was back to unsold and still at £370K .

im surprised the EA hasnt dropped them for being time wasters. some time ago when i was on the market, and EA told me to drop my price else they would cancel EA contract and charge me £250+VAT for marketing. neadless to say i dropped the price, they still couldnt sell it, so i dropped them about 6 months later and they didnt ask for there £250, so win win.

[cypher007]

Who still makes money re surveys being done etc?

i know what you mean, ive been burnt in a chain before. i only do a survey last thing.

[arrgee1991]

Who still makes money re surveys being done etc?

Surveys/Valuations don't tend to get done until chains are complete. This can lead to sudden withdrawals if the valuation won't allow one of the purchasers to proceed.

Thing is these days, there are precious few offers been made, so sellers accept offers from those who may ultimately not be able to complete.

[The Masked Tulip]

Thing is these days, there are precious few offers been made, so sellers accept offers from those who may ultimately not be able to complete.

I will twist that slightly.

I think loads of sellers are putting in full or near full asking price offers on the properties they wish to buy... being totally oblivious of the current economic situation... and believing that they will get full asking on their property... So they make a full offer deluding the seller that the asking price is spot on... and then months drag on whilst the buyer sits around waiting for someone to make an offer on their own home...

I am told, so a few trusted EAs tell me, that a lot of this is going on.

I suspect that there are entire chains of deluded asking price sellers out there.

[arrgee1991]

im surprised the EA hasnt dropped them for being time wasters. some time ago when i was on the market, and EA told me to drop my price else they would cancel EA contract and charge me £250+VAT for marketing. neadless to say i dropped the price, they still couldnt sell it, so i dropped them about 6 months later and they didnt ask for there £250, so win win.

Don't think an EA will drop any seller simply for asking too much, as they often advise on the asking price. They probably won't put any effort into selling the property if the price is not cut, and just leave it on their website. Often, the vendor removes the property from the market long before due to the EA not been able to sell it.

[TheCountOfNowhere]

So sad. Odd really, in London prices only ever go up.

Aparently, someone was telling me just that yesterday.

The countess' attitude to house prices has already changed in the space of 24 hours. She's gone from being bullish to being bearish.

The comment of "I think I could have got more" has now changed to "I think I was lucky" !!!!

I think she was lucky too

I darent do a rightmove search on her area last couple of months, she was stressed enough with it all. Did one today though....the market looks saturated and there is already a 2 bed near here, same style, top floor though which is better and it's 20K asking price less than her's has just sold for.

[MC Fur Q]

When the wife and I first looked into moving in 2008 we saw a lovely house which was on for an eye watering £315k. We thought about offering £290k but, luckily in hindsight, bottled it. It ended up going for £290k.

Last year we looked into moving again and the house next door to the one above was on for £315k. Went to look and although it appeared to be the same design, it was actually a smaller footprint. Also it was at 90 degrees to the other house so it had a view of other houses rather than of the countryside.

House 2 later changed agents to some consistent over-pricers in the Suffolk area who put it up to £320k. Went SSTC in January and then in Feb was back on again, still at £320k.

Can't see it selling but the family were a little odd so maybe they don't quite get it yet.

[arrgee1991]

I suspect that there are entire chains of deluded asking price sellers out there.

Yes. However I have never had an offer accepted anywhere until I have had a firm offer on my own place.

Last year, there was a problem with this when one of our offers was not accepted, despite having a buyer lined up and an alternative offer accepted where they had not sold. The people who had the offer accepted (obviously more than ours, probably at asking price) withdrew because they couldn't afford the stamp duty even with a sale that had yet to be agreed at asking price.

Everyone participating in the market at present is deluded, bar the zero-sum buyers (i.e. those who are buying/selling at similar prices for whom ups and downs don't really matter, which is where we were last year).

[arrgee1991]

"I think I could have got more" has now changed to "I think I was lucky" !!!!

I have always thought I was lucky to sell my two places as both sales depended on the street I was in.

On one, we didn't get a sniff until someone came along who had to live on the road as her grandparents lived. We had a corner house, with the street nameplate on the side of the house. And that's what sold it at near asking.

For the other, someone popped a leaflet in the door because they wanted to live in the street. And they offered asking.

[TheCountOfNowhere]

I have always thought I was lucky to sell my two places as both sales depended on the street I was in.

On one, we didn't get a sniff until someone came along who had to live on the road as her grandparents lived. We had a corner house, with the street nameplate on the side of the house. And that's what sold it at near asking.

For the other, someone popped a leaflet in the door because they wanted to live in the street. And they offered asking.

Jees...People really are stupid. The only way to buy a house is price per square feet +/- a bit for location, garden size, desirability etc.

Funny anecdotes though.

[athom]

My room mate at work had an offer accepted on a house about a month ago, but last week the bank's valuation came back £50k under the amount she and her boyfriend had offered.

They were selling an Islington flat and buying a small house, also in Islington. Apparently loads of equity (bought first flat in 2000), but now unable to go through with purchase unless vendor will accept £50k less than previously, which is unlikely as they had already knocked £50k off the original asking price.

ooh that's a lovely post

[rantnrave]

My room mate at work had an offer accepted on a house about a month ago, but last week the bank's valuation came back £50k under the amount she and her boyfriend had offered.

They were selling an Islington flat and buying a small house, also in Islington. Apparently loads of equity (bought first flat in 2000), but now unable to go through with purchase unless vendor will accept £50k less than previously, which is unlikely as they had already knocked £50k off the original asking price.

Another chain collapses.

Always being several paces behind everyone else, I'm wondering if IR rises are going to hit London twice as hard as elsewhere, with the capital's prices supported by both low rates and a devalued Pound tempting more overseas buyers in

[arrgee1991]

The only way to buy a house is price per square feet +/- a bit for location, garden size, desirability etc.

Add in schools (biggest local factor on price for us), public transport, access to main roads, parkland and now off street parking as the borough are considering a permit parking zone. People will pay significantly more for houses on one side of the street than the other based on school catchment alone. Even the width of the road can affect prices.

House prices are a black art.

[TheCountOfNowhere]

Always being several paces behind everyone else, I'm wondering if IR rises are going to hit London twice as hard as elsewhere, with the capital's prices supported by both low rates and a devalued Pound tempting more overseas buyers in

You could be right there. Some of the countesses friends are paying ridiculous amounts on rent...and yes, they see it as dead money. On the flip side, they can buy 400K flat on an IO mortgage for less monthly payments as renting...at the moment. It wont take much before their 1400 quid a month becomes 2500 a month and they wont have a mortgage repayment vehicle. Try telling them prices have to come down and they don't want to hear it. One fiend of the countess offered full asking price on a flat 6 months ago, even though I showed her the evidence of the land registry that selling prices were 40k lower for similar flats on he same road. She's now spent £30k doing it up....how did she afford it...MUM AND DAD helped !!!!

These people are still working on monthly affordability, rather than price of asset versus total amount repayable.

Mum and Dad are throwing their money away and helping no one but the banks.

I just want to stand outside foxtons and shout "DONT BE SO F**KING STUPID, OFFER HALF".

[TheCountOfNowhere]

Add in schools (biggest local factor on price for us), public transport, access to main roads, parkland and now off street parking as the borough are considering a permit parking zone. People will pay significantly more for houses on one side of the street than the other based on school catchment alone. Even the width of the road can affect prices.

House prices are a black art.

Schools is a funny one, people seem to want to pay 100K extra for a house cause it's near a good school, even if they have thick children. It wont help them in life, hard work, worldly wisdom and cunning is needed. You migth do better sending them to the worst school you can find and spending the 100K on private tutors or 5 years in private school.

[GloomMonger]

Friend of mine reduced his 2 bed house in Peckham from 329 to 319. Accepted an offer of 312. Found a house he wanted and had offer accepted on it. His buyers had a survey done and then nothing. Couldn't contact his buyers. Three weeks passed and the chain is broken and his house is back on the market.