House prices

[DimPrawn]

Home sellers hit 3-year high - Telegraph

The number of home sellers has hit a three-year high, raising further fears that house prices are set for a fall.

UK house prices fall for third month, Halifax - Telegraph

UK house prices fell for the third month in a row in June, extending a slowdown that started at the beginning of the year as more homes came on the market.

UK house prices not set to recover for another ten years, says PWC - Telegraph

Property prices will not recover for another decade and should be viewed as "risky assets", according to PricewaterhouseCooper's Economic Outlook report.

Self-certification mortgages likely to be banned by FSA - Telegraph

Self-certification mortgages, once the loan of choice for small businessmen, could be outlawed by the Financial Services Authority.

House prices will fall further this year, warns Nationwide - Telegraph

The scrapping of HIPS has led to a slow down in house prices, with further falls predicted, Nationwide has warned.




And they'll still go up 10% pa.

[shaunbhoy]

Property prices will not recover for another decade and should be viewed as "risky assets", according to PricewaterhouseCooper's Economic Outlook report.

When will these "experts" cotton on to the fact that most people simply view houses as "homes" and not "assets".
And just why has the scrapping of HIPS led to a slowdown? Is it simply down to there now being more properties coming on the market, or is it all just more hot air?

[Lockhouse]

I am selling my BTL at the moment. I got a good price in a falling market and I'm getting out whilst I can. I will definitely buy in again at some stage but will just sit tight for now (and probably the next year or so at least). To be honest I'm not sure what to do in the meantime with the cash apart from lock it away as nothing looks safe (and my wife won't let me buy any more cars....).

[administrator]

Nice one DP, all the news seems bad at the minute. I think the crash people expected a year or two ago is on the horizon again. And this time I don't think the Government will look to prop the market up. Seems sensible that the Tories let the market drop sooner rather than later so that it can be blamed on Labour with hopefully enough time for the market to stabilise in time for the next election.

When will these "experts" cotton on to the fact that most people simply view houses as "homes" and not "assets".
And just why has the scrapping of HIPS led to a slowdown? Is it simply down to there now being more properties coming on the market, or is it all just more hot air?

IMO a lot of people are quite the opposite and do see homes as an investment. Hence the glut of BTL'ers in this country. It was a good game while it lasted but seems to me that the brakes are being applied to the property market by the new Gov. Not only have HIPS been scrapped but also CGT rises and recently something about capping housing benefit which could hit BTL landlords. So seems to be a fair few property speculators jumping ship. No more HIPS, end of easy money for BTL investors and a general feeling of "get out while you can" has led to more homes on the market. More homes on the market and less buyers means falling prices.

Other things seem to be adding to this as well. Credit is drying up again now QE has ended and the banks are trying to rebuild their balance books. With property being seen as a risky investment again the banks are not throwing mortgages at all an sundry anymore.

I am selling my BTL at the moment. I got a good price in a falling market and I'm getting out whilst I can. I will definitely buy in again at some stage but will just sit tight for now (and probably the next year or so at least). To be honest I'm not sure what to do in the meantime with the cash apart from lock it away as nothing looks safe (and my wife won't let me buy any more cars....).

Well done! I think holding cash, split up in case of bank failure again is the best option. If you are holding the money solely to put back into property then it does not matter too much about low interest rates and inflation, as long as the asset you want to buy again is depreciating faster than inflation then holding cash seems sensible IMO. Where was your BTL?

[doodab]

To be honest I'm not sure what to do in the meantime with the cash apart from lock it away as nothing looks safe (and my wife won't let me buy any more cars....).

Get a yacht.

[Lockhouse]

Well done! ..... Where was your BTL?

It was a 3 bed\2 bath flat in a nice part of East London (not Docklands and there are some nice areas!). The main problem I had was one of gearing. I was only getting a net yield of around 3.8% and felt I could do better by restructuring and splitting the equity into multiples. Plus the distance management was becoming a problem and I didn't want to pay an agent. This is all about retirement income so I'm thinking mid\long term.

And thanks!

[TimberWolf]

I don't think the government will allow house prices to fall much. They'll just QE again. The economy still seems to be based on house price growth, and hasn't the government underwritten the banks on mortgage defaults? No.1 priority is still protecting the banks IMO, which means no mass mortgage defaults.

[sasguru]

In the "international executive" market in London, i.e 3-4 bed detached in good areas, with an easy City commute, house inflation is in the double figures and will continue to be so.
There is increasingly a dichotomy between top-level London property where demand is international and the rest of the British property market.
Simply put there are not enough good houses in London to satisfy international demand.

Boomed!

[Gonzo]

I don't think the government will allow house prices to fall much. They'll just QE again. The economy still seems to be based on house price growth, and hasn't the government underwritten the banks on mortgage defaults? No.1 priority is still protecting the banks IMO, which means no mass mortgage defaults.

I'm not convinced about that.

There is a huge inflation risk with QE. Just because they seem, so far, to have got away with it last time (and I still think it is too early to be sure about that), it would be unwise to try it again.

EDIT And I should add that I would like to think that a Conservative government would not be so daft as to try it.

[TimberWolf]

I'm not convinced about that.

There is a huge inflation risk with QE. Just because they seem, so far, to have got away with it last time (and I still think it is too early to be sure about that), it would be unwise to try it again.

Well they can't bring interests rates much lower than the current 0.5% to keep house prices high.