Got A Shock Today Really Looking At The Market Outside The South East

[montesquieu]

Our planned purchase in West Berks looks to have gone pear-shaped and on a whim we took a look today at some houses back in North Somerset where we moved through from four years ago.

Where we've been looking to date (anywhere from Henley down to Hartley Witney, and Goring/Pangbourne across to Ascot (a big area but it's all about transport links for the wife) asking prices are totally mental, anything up to 25% above 2007. They aren't really selling for that but there's little sign of economic pain in S Ox and Berks - plenty of 11 and 61 plates around, Waitrose still full etc.

Well we got a shock looking around Wells and some of the village up to Bristol today - our favourite deli (Taste - which sold live crab, lobster etc) closed in 2010, citing people cutting back. Lots of shops and pubs have closed, the traffic (always quieter than Berks) is quieter than ever, cars are old and smoky, and the feeling generally is of hard times. Of course there was always a difference but it's far more pronounced (it seems to me) than it used to be.

And then the houses - of course you get almost twice as much for your money but we looked at three today, all on for at least 18 months previously, all dropped between 20 and 25% already (needless to say any offer we make will be a leg down again). The market for expensive houses - so buoyant when we lived there through 2006, 2007 etc - has collapsed, it seems.

Interesting times.

[okaycuckoo]

Go where cost of accomodation is not insane. And where you can speak the language!

[thecrashingisles]

Go where cost of accomodation is not insane. And where you can speak the language!

I'd suggest Newcastle but the language barrier is a problem. I'm told watching DVDs of Byker Grove is the best solution.

[Aidan Ap Word]

Been looking to rent in Berkshire in recent weeks and, well, the attitude by the lettings agents is a nightmare (utterly insulting, in fact) ... it amazes me that the lettings agents would insult the intelligence of someone looking at paying 1500 GBP per month by suggesting the potential tenant (me) hasn't the intelligence with to analyse the available public data and come to a reasonable conclusion. If I weren't capable of doing the reading/searching then how on earth could it be suggested that I could be capable of paying 18k GBP/year in rent?!?!?!?

Sorry ... rant over ... but suffice to say I did get one blindingly dumb email from a (remaining nameless) EA who OPENLY and EXPLICITLY admitted that the rental market was buoyant because no one is buying and everyone is renting. ("apparently" my offer was too low to even bother the LL with)

Ignoring the stupid statements through the rest of the response to the rental offer it is, I reckon, telling that an EA might use this as the primary excuse for (further) inflated rents. And this from an EA who CLAIMS their core competency and most profit comes from the buy/sell world.

The rental offer I was suggesting was only 10% off the asking price and justified against a large number of things (local crime rate statistics, CHEAP 30 yr old kitchen AND bathroom and the collapse of the global monetary system as we know it).

I am more and more convinced that local prices are influenced FIRST by local labour market and only very much later by *anything* else ... *sigh* ... if only I could find a job where no one else has a job ... ah yes ... doh!

Windsor & Maidenhead continues to seem to be a hot-bed of property porn and propaganda ...?

[LetsGetReadyToTumble]

We're looking just north of Birmingham and finding decent detached for 130k, many are repossessions. I don't know what they were 5 years ago, but surely there has been a significant drop already?

[Normski]

The posts about cheaper prices in some areas are encouraging, but I'm sad to report there's still no good deals to be had on family homes in East Cheltenham or the near Cotswolds villages. Asking prices are at least 10% up on 2007/08.

Recently there's more coming to market, at least, and the houses that are for sale hang around for ages. I've got several on my list that have been marketed now for 12 or 18 months. Some get reduced by £2K or £5K after 6 months. How must it feel to be trying to sell your home for this long?

Just as well we've got a fairly secure rental that suits.

The whole pricing situation is pathetic

[easy2012]

Our planned purchase in West Berks looks to have gone pear-shaped and on a whim we took a look today at some houses back in North Somerset where we moved through from four years ago.

Where we've been looking to date (anywhere from Henley down to Hartley Witney, and Goring/Pangbourne across to Ascot (a big area but it's all about transport links for the wife) asking prices are totally mental, anything up to 25% above 2007. They aren't really selling for that but there's little sign of economic pain in S Ox and Berks - plenty of 11 and 61 plates around, Waitrose still full etc.

Well, businesses aren't exactly 'good' in West Berks / Oxon either if you look at the shop and businesses that are up for sale.

However, those who have a job still have the money and they will continue to live as normal until...

Houses with easy access to central Oxford sell for 2007 + 10 - 20% fairly quickly (sometimes within 1 week).

Ox2 8

£732,500 Detached, Freehold 25 Jul 2011 5 bedrooms

£605,000 Detached, Freehold 16 Mar 2007

[AC44]

Aidan,

1500 pcm is quite alot.. You are absolutely right dont give it..

And if someone does give such an amount for a place so far outside London..

We were in c.london up till 1 year ago.. 1 bedroom flat at 1K (in a fantastic area), were looking for a 2 bed and the prices they were telling was close to 1500pcm!!

So we just packed up, went 30min from London and price for a 2-bed flat 800pcm...

Two fingers up to London and two fingers for anyone who thinks we will pay more than 1K rent for something outside london..

I wish I could find a job up north...(Scotland/Yorkshire), It would be a much better place and cheaper houses...

I wish..

[plummet expert]

We're looking just north of Birmingham and finding decent detached for 130k, many are repossessions. I don't know what they were 5 years ago, but surely there has been a significant drop already?

The South East and some South West and up to Oxfordshire/Cotswolds are living on the planet Tharg with their prices. Their false platform is beginning to creak and shrink with every passing week. It's a stubborn dominoes set, but nevertheless it is showing the signs of a leaking dam. There si no justisfication on earth for some prices or having reached them, except poor lending practices and pathetically short sighted govt policy.

THE NEW DAWN OF SENSIBLE PRICES CANNOT COME WITHOUT THE PAIN. The pain will turn to relief and renewal....(sorry, got carried away, but basically true)

Edited May 20, 2012 by plummet expert

[hankdd]

I'd suggest Newcastle but the language barrier is a problem. I'm told watching DVDs of Byker Grove is the best solution.

try this

http://www.fadvertising.co.uk/img/blogs/image/original/languabell3000-186.jpg

[Trampa501]

Go where cost of accomodation is not insane. And where you can speak the language!

Grimsby? At least you can be next to the sea. Just avoid living close to the glue-sniffers, and you have a bargain.

I'm being serious btw. I wouldn't advise swimming in the North Sea, particularly near the port of Grimsby, but there are plenty of nice walks along the front in Cleethorpes (if you don't mind the whiff of fish n chips and candy-floss), and the Lincs Wolds inland can be worth a diversion. Lincoln too, can be a good place to visit when you have a day spare.

It doesn't have a great reputation, but must be one of the best value places to buy property close to the coast.

[richc]

Our planned purchase in West Berks looks to have gone pear-shaped and on a whim we took a look today at some houses back in North Somerset where we moved through from four years ago.

Where we've been looking to date (anywhere from Henley down to Hartley Witney, and Goring/Pangbourne across to Ascot (a big area but it's all about transport links for the wife) asking prices are totally mental, anything up to 25% above 2007. They aren't really selling for that but there's little sign of economic pain in S Ox and Berks - plenty of 11 and 61 plates around, Waitrose still full etc.

Well we got a shock looking around Wells and some of the village up to Bristol today - our favourite deli (Taste - which sold live crab, lobster etc) closed in 2010, citing people cutting back. Lots of shops and pubs have closed, the traffic (always quieter than Berks) is quieter than ever, cars are old and smoky, and the feeling generally is of hard times. Of course there was always a difference but it's far more pronounced (it seems to me) than it used to be.

And then the houses - of course you get almost twice as much for your money but we looked at three today, all on for at least 18 months previously, all dropped between 20 and 25% already (needless to say any offer we make will be a leg down again). The market for expensive houses - so buoyant when we lived there through 2006, 2007 etc - has collapsed, it seems.

Interesting times.

Henley over to Ascot has got to be some of the worst value in the UK (outside central London) because it's all based on people being able to say "I live in Ascot", or "I live in Windsor" or "I live in Marlow", blah, blah, blah, even though they actually live in a £500k+ former council house or a £1million+ new build shoebox in an expensive neighbourhood on the outskirts of Slough. I moved (renting) from a village outside of Maidenhead to a village outside of Didcot (again renting) at the end of last year. It takes 10 minutes longer for my partner to get to his job in Central London, but, in addition to living in a much nicer house for less money, it's such a relief to no longer have to deal with all the attitude. If you can get the train/motorway links right, there are a lot more options for places to live that are easily accessible but offer a better quality of life outside of that East Berkshire area.

[The XYY Man]

....I wouldn't advise swimming in the North Sea...

Why not...? I was taught to swim in this fine body of water - which basically involved repeatedly being thrown in the water by my dad from the age of about 3 until you figured out how not to drown. I'll have been about 6 when I finally mastered the not dying bit.

One of the best beaches in Hartlepool was also the home of the sewage outlet - or the sh1t-pipe as it was affectionately known - and futher character building skills could be developed here. I might not have been the best at football or marbles, but once in the water, I could expertly dodge a floating turd or used johnny with the best of them.

The big advantage of this was when we started swimming lessons at school, me and several others could spend the entire session doing whatever we wanted in the deep end while the poor teacher tried to get the soft kids to cast off their armbands and those minging polystyrene "floaters". The turd-dodging skills continued to be useful as the softies regularly soiled their Speedos following the forced removal of their water-wings.

I continue to swim in the North Sea to this day, and I've just celebrated my 47th birthday. And the beauty of the North Sea is that no matter what the air temperature, the sea itself is always freezing - so you can enjoy it's delights all year round.

Oh, and if any of you shandy-drinkers contemplating a move "oop North" need a personal trainer to assist you in this difficult transition, then I'm your (XYY) man...

XYY

This post is produced in association with the North-East Tourist Board.

[MrPin]

Parlez vous Geordie? Sprikken zie Mackem?

[juvenal]

Why not...? I was taught to swim in this fine body of water - which basically involved repeatedly being thrown in the water by my dad from the age of about 3 until you figured out how not to drown. I'll have been about 6 when I finally mastered the not dying bit.

One of the best beaches in Hartlepool was also the home of the sewage outlet - or the sh1t-pipe as it was affectionately known - and futher character building skills could be developed here. I might not have been the best at football or marbles, but once in the water, I could expertly dodge a floating turd or used johnny with the best of them.

The big advantage of this was when we started swimming lessons at school, me and several others could spend the entire session doing whatever we wanted in the deep end while the poor teacher tried to get the soft kids to cast off their armbands and those minging polystyrene "floaters". The turd-dodging skills continued to be useful as the softies regularly soiled their Speedos following the forced removal of their water-wings.

I continue to swim in the North Sea to this day, and I've just celebrated my 47th birthday. And the beauty of the North Sea is that no matter what the air temperature, the sea itself is always freezing - so you can enjoy it's delights all year round.

Oh, and if any of you shandy-drinkers contemplating a move "oop North" need a personal trainer to assist you in this difficult transition, then I'm your (XYY) man...

XYY

This post is produced in association with the North-East Tourist Board.

XYY Travel Agency - Telling It Like It ****ing Is!!

Edited May 20, 2012 by juvenal

[cybernoid]

EA who OPENLY and EXPLICITLY admitted that the rental market was buoyant because no one is buying and everyone is renting. ("apparently" my offer was too low to even bother the LL with)

In their tiny minds it doesn't matter that we're in the biggest recession since the 30s brought about by the biggest asset bubble in history, its only 'supply and demand', everyone has access to infinite money apparently.

Considering the rental asking price would have been plucked out of the air in the first place to insist on it as actual value and a 'line in the sand' is ridiculous, I expect the owner wouldn't be happy to learn that an income for them was being passed up without their knowledge.

Im sure you could find something reasonable for less than 1500 in that area, cross the agent off your list.

[winkie]

The South East and some South West and up to Oxfordshire/Cotswolds are living on the planet Tharg with their prices. Their false platform is beginning to creak and shrink with every passing week. It's a stubborn dominoes set, but nevertheless it is showing the signs of a leaking dam. There si no justisfication on earth for some prices or having reached them, except poor lending practices and pathetically short sighted govt policy.

THE NEW DAWN OF SENSIBLE PRICES CANNOT COME WITHOUT THE PAIN. The pain will turn to relief and renewal....(sorry, got carried away, but basically true)

I would say that many of the nicer places to live outside London have been bought with London money....as people die, tax is paid and equity shared amongst dependents prices everywhere will readjust downwards towards some kind of affordability that is in alinement with the average income/wages of the area in question, hopefully.

[gf3]

The posts about cheaper prices in some areas are encouraging, but I'm sad to report there's still no good deals to be had on family homes in East Cheltenham or the near Cotswolds villages. Asking prices are at least 10% up on 2007/08.

Recently there's more coming to market, at least, and the houses that are for sale hang around for ages. I've got several on my list that have been marketed now for 12 or 18 months. Some get reduced by £2K or £5K after 6 months. How must it feel to be trying to sell your home for this long?

Just as well we've got a fairly secure rental that suits.

The whole pricing situation is pathetic

Have you looked at Gloucester instead?

If you are looking for a nice house on a housing estate I don't think it matters what your post code is. Cheltenham prices just seem inflated and I fail to see the reason.

OK if you budget is £500,000 Cheltenham will give you more choice but if your budget is £200,000 Gloucester will give you more bang for your bucks.

[man o' the year]

Hold Fire! The drops are just starting properly in Somerset.

[Uncas]

Hold Fire! The drops are just starting properly in Somerset.

I sincerely hope so. We have been looking for the last 16 months in Bristol/Somerset and the prices seem to have gone up this year and stuff is still selling. I really hope to see a reasonable drop in the next few months to wipe that smile from estate agent's faces when they tell me 'you have to be quick, this one is in a really popular area and will be gone by next week.' So I am back to renting, I don't want to give them the satisfaction of a sale.

[davidg]

Well we got a shock looking around Wells and some of the village up to Bristol today - our favourite deli (Taste - which sold live crab, lobster etc) closed in 2010, citing people cutting back.

Don't worry, you can still pick up live crabs in many of the wine bars and pubs of the Thames Corridor's finest towns.

[DTMark]

We've been looking this morning.

We'd pencilled in a house move this year because some of the projects I'm doing just don't work very well with our dog slow broadband (3G HSPA 6Meg down 1.5Meg up) and that's all we can get here (village called Froyle, over near Alton)

Partner works in Hook (near Hartley Wintney) so there's some overlap in the areas we're looking at.

Plenty to rent, rental prices seem a little higher than I'd expected but they're all cheaper than we pay now (mind you we're having to go back to urban areas so not pretty cottages, it's an easy search since only a few places within travelling distance have cable - Liss, Petersfield, Ash, Winchester - 85% of Hampshire by geography is rural)

The other reason for looking is that the landlord has decided to renovate the bathroom and kitchen and I suspect the call for a rent rise is in the offing. So we want to be prepared because if that happens we're going to refuse an increase. This house is quite small and not the easiest to let, but is in a very pretty area and we're paying for living in the commuter belt to some extent when neither of us work in London.

So far as sales go - not a lot comes up for sale round here. There have been properties for sale over the last few years, some really unique ones (the biggest, usually) have sold, example - asking 625k eventually went for 485k, others just got taken off the market.

Only two for sale in the area. This is actually one of the most horrible houses in the whole village (so sorry if the owner reads this) because it's a modern build on a small estate, not a nice cottage in a lane

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-37302251.html

That asking price is fair for the area when you look at selling/sold prices. I'll be interested to see if it does sell.

[The Masked Tulip]

Round my way the only substantial drops are:

1. Repos.

2. People who have lost jobs/need to move for work.

Otherwise, the denial is still very much dominant around here.

[NEO72]

I sincerely hope so. We have been looking for the last 16 months in Bristol/Somerset and the prices seem to have gone up this year and stuff is still selling. I really hope to see a reasonable drop in the next few months to wipe that smile from estate agent's faces when they tell me 'you have to be quick, this one is in a really popular area and will be gone by next week.' So I am back to renting, I don't want to give them the satisfaction of a sale.

Well according to the Land Reg, we've had 5 months straight falls in Somerset (-0.4, -1.0, -0.4, -0.5 and -0.3) - and this during the pre-stamp duty reintroduction last hurrah, so looking good for this year I'd say.