qejunkie Posted August 22, 2013 Share Posted August 22, 2013 A lovely 145 sqm house in the heart of St Albans with a busy main road location and a desiable basement conversion bedroom for the bargain price of a cool £1 million. I'm not particularly negative on house prices but will be watching this one closely; seems 25-35% overvalued BUT at least they've done the smart thing and marketed out of London! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
worried1 Posted August 22, 2013 Share Posted August 22, 2013 A lovely 145 sqm house in the heart of St Albans with a busy main road location and a desiable basement conversion bedroom for the bargain price of a cool £1 million. I'm not particularly negative on house prices but will be watching this one closely; seems 25-35% overvalued BUT at least they've done the smart thing and marketed out of London! Yeah, I'd say that is closer to Richmond price rather than St.Albans, but as you say it will look quite cheap in comparison to a lot of the other London properties on with the same agent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qejunkie Posted August 23, 2013 Author Share Posted August 23, 2013 Here's another one hot off the press some 25-35% overvalued! Seriously all you HPCers out there need to get leveraged long cos this bull market is just getting started! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
worried1 Posted August 24, 2013 Share Posted August 24, 2013 Here's another one hot off the press some 25-35% overvalued! Seriously all you HPCers out there need to get leveraged long cos this bull market is just getting started! I don't think that one is as bad. You could pay £800k+ for that house in a pretty rubbish part of SW London so I guess it would appeal to people priced out of that type of area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a j Posted August 24, 2013 Share Posted August 24, 2013 I don't think that one is as bad. You could pay £800k+ for that house in a pretty rubbish part of SW London so I guess it would appeal to people priced out of that type of area. Tend to agree about the price, but Prospect Road wasn't the best place to be when I knew St Albans, and not clear whether the house has private parking. For the same money this: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-42940799.html looks a much better deal to me. Being in walking distance to the station makes a huge difference to quality of life (even if parents don't ever expect to work in London it could be important for their children as they look for work). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bankstersparadise Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 Anyone have any thoughts on St Albans recntly? I've seen lots of reports that it was more or less the best performing market in the UK in 2014. And I've now seen prices hitting £6.5k per sqm on land registry for all kinds of properties in good parts of town, 18 months ago it felt like a £4.5k per sq m kind of place. What on earth is going on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeepLurker Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 (edited) Hello... We live in St Albans (renting) and we're leaving We have to move house on account of our landlord being, well, a landlord. And we can't stay in this town... Rentals have moved out of our price range. House prices have gone to the moon - £380k for a labourer's 2-bed terrace in need of renovation. Similar houses were selling for £250k just before the 2008 crash. If you're a canny investor, then jump in and fill yer boots. If you've a got brain, steer clear. PS edit to add: I catch the rush-hour train into London at least once a week - it's becoming noticeably more crowded. Unpleasantly so. So anecdotally I would say that a lot of London workers are moving out, and flooding the local market with the cash from the sale of their London house. Edited January 2, 2015 by DeepLurker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Venger Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 Nationwide Outlook for 2015 “While the pace of house price growth has moderated in recent months, activity has slowed more sharply, with the number of mortgages approved for house purchase falling to their lowest level for 16 months in October (and 22% below the level prevailing at the start of the year). This is the best part for me, even if they then go onto something about it being 'surprising' because of soaring consumer confidence etc. Maybe fewer applicants for mortgages too because of the crazy high house prices, in many areas? There's the 2nd PDF for Q4... Manchester having the 'worst' annual HPI performance with 0% growth. St Albans the 'best' performance with 24% hpi/more expensive. http://www.nationwide.co.uk/~/media/MainSite/documents/about/house-price-index/Q4_2014.pdf Guts me, no hpc, just even more HPI. And the price paid by people such as yourself. I guess that's we get though, when even non-owner/renters sympathies, on HPC, were and still are on those who pay ever high prices as victims, leading to more bailouts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richc Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 Anyone have any thoughts on St Albans recntly? I've seen lots of reports that it was more or less the best performing market in the UK in 2014. And I've now seen prices hitting £6.5k per sqm on land registry for all kinds of properties in good parts of town, 18 months ago it felt like a £4.5k per sq m kind of place. What on earth is going on? I wonder if this isn't going to self-correct. I was in St.Albans yesterday around lunch time. It took about 20 minutes to drive about 200 metres crossing the high street, then another 20-30 minutes to park in the multi-story car park in the town centre (waiting for cars to exit before they would allow any more cars to enter). You couldn't pay me enough to have to deal with that on a regular basis. The town simply lacks the infrastructure to deal with an influx of newcomers from London. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bankstersparadise Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 £380k for a labourer's 2-bed terrace in need of renovation. That's example is exactly the sought of thing I've been noticing which looks mad. In particular this caused me to fall off my chair. I sincerely hope that a financial investor bought this and not an owner occupier. I know South Herts and South Bucks really well and always monitor St Albans/Harpdenden as the most "prime" area i.e. balance between niceness, local amenities, public transport etc. But they look big time out of kilter now. Is your landlord cashing in? If not at least you can sleep soundly in the knowledge that he is about to miss the boat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bankstersparadise Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 I wonder if this isn't going to self-correct. I was in St.Albans yesterday around lunch time. It took about 20 minutes to drive about 200 metres crossing the high street, then another 20-30 minutes to park in the multi-story car park in the town centre (waiting for cars to exit before they would allow any more cars to enter). You couldn't pay me enough to have to deal with that on a regular basis. The town simply lacks the infrastructure to deal with an influx of newcomers from London. I've lived within say 30 mins of St. Albans for the majority of my life and it's always one of the busiest places around. I'm not sure why turning the housing stock over so it is even more owned by commuters from London means it should get more busy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walki Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 I live in St.Albans and would agree that it is ridiculously expensive. Although i'm not sure about it being any more crowded, I would never drive through the centre and there are 101 side roads and ways around it. I parked on Saturday drove straight in and parked in the multi-story easily without waiting. I don't think they have built that many new houses, so unless all these new London types are living 10 to a room i don't think the population has grown much.The only thing they are doing is paying well over the odds for "refurbished" (decorated) semis and terraced houses. crazy 3 bed cottage http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-47340694.html . London prices are so inflated that people coming out over estimate the value particularly of semis and terraced houses, as these are the norm in London. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bankstersparadise Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 I don't think they have built that many new houses, so unless all these new London types are living 10 to a room i don't think the population has grown much.The only thing they are doing is paying well over the odds for "refurbished" (decorated) semis and terraced houses. crazy 3 bed cottage http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-47340694.html . London prices are so inflated that people coming out over estimate the value particularly of semis and terraced houses, as these are the norm in London. That is exactly the £6.5k/sqm I referenced in my post back at the start of January - great spot. Price is what you pay.....value is what you get. It is conceivable that £6.5k / sq meter could be good value when measured against other options inside the M25. I mean, St Albans is actually nice!! Of course there is huge circulatory there on the assumption the London market is not/has not already blown up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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