It beggars belief that with unemployment at 2.7 million and nearly a quarter of 16- to 24-year-olds on the dole, economic growth close to zero and real incomes falling, and after the banks suffered a near-death experience, that any part of the country could be experiencing a property boom. Alas, it is happening.
See a property you like on Rightmove? Chances are it has already sold. Thinking of putting in an offer about 5%-10% below asking price? Forget it – offer the asking price or even more. Can't view the property this Saturday? Then don't bother rearranging – it will be sold by Monday.
No, this madness isn't happening in most of the UK. In the real world of job losses, spending cuts and austerity it can take months to sell a property, and if you bought much after 2004 you are probably unlikely to recoup the purchase price. But London has detached itself from the real world, and in some parts of the capital a new property bubble has erupted.
The first alarm bell rang in December, when a neighbour put his property on at the fanciest price the road has ever seen. It sold in three days. But, hey, that could have been a one-off. It wasn't. At a two-bed flat in East Dulwich which I visited – a snip at close to half a million pounds – there were queues of buyers on the "open day". The agent, comically clad in Sir Les Patterson drag (shiny suit and breakfast-splattered tie), told me he was only accepting offers at the asking price and from "clean" buyers (mostly with lots of cash from their parents).
In Walthamstow, I saw a lovely three-bedder the first day it went on the market. By lunchtime it had received two offers close to the asking price. "We're getting lots of families priced out of Stokie and Hackney," said the agent. He took us to another house nearby, advertised on Rightmove at £420,000, but said he was only really taking offers at £440,000. I checked on nethouseprices.com. Neither of the roads in question had "achieved" (sorry to use estate-agentese) that level of prices before.
In Chiswick, a two-bedder (no garden) also on for nearly half a million caught my eye. "Sorry, that's sold. Would you like to register with us for when similar properties become available?" the agent asked. It remains advertised on Rightmove, weeks later, without any note to say it is sold or under offer. In a fast-moving market, are agents using Rightmove as their shop window, advertising products that aren't really for sale to get you in the door? Or was it ever thus?
In Herne Hill, the "pristine pad in a perfect locale" was a tenanted flat in ropey condition, with damp on the walls and a broken pipe spewing grey washing machine water over the garden. The agents were marketing it as perfect for an investor to let out straightaway. Sometimes buy-to-let really makes you want to vomit.
Although my property search has taken in Battersea, Bow, Clapham, Chiswick, East Dulwich, Herne Hill, Highbury, Mortlake, Putney and Walthamstow – virtually all of zone 2 London – I accept my search results are anecdotal. Maybe I've just alighted on a few sought-after properties in a few hot spots.
More about misfortune of sasguru from Wandsworth here: House prices bubble swells in London | Money | The Guardian
See a property you like on Rightmove? Chances are it has already sold. Thinking of putting in an offer about 5%-10% below asking price? Forget it – offer the asking price or even more. Can't view the property this Saturday? Then don't bother rearranging – it will be sold by Monday.
No, this madness isn't happening in most of the UK. In the real world of job losses, spending cuts and austerity it can take months to sell a property, and if you bought much after 2004 you are probably unlikely to recoup the purchase price. But London has detached itself from the real world, and in some parts of the capital a new property bubble has erupted.
The first alarm bell rang in December, when a neighbour put his property on at the fanciest price the road has ever seen. It sold in three days. But, hey, that could have been a one-off. It wasn't. At a two-bed flat in East Dulwich which I visited – a snip at close to half a million pounds – there were queues of buyers on the "open day". The agent, comically clad in Sir Les Patterson drag (shiny suit and breakfast-splattered tie), told me he was only accepting offers at the asking price and from "clean" buyers (mostly with lots of cash from their parents).
In Walthamstow, I saw a lovely three-bedder the first day it went on the market. By lunchtime it had received two offers close to the asking price. "We're getting lots of families priced out of Stokie and Hackney," said the agent. He took us to another house nearby, advertised on Rightmove at £420,000, but said he was only really taking offers at £440,000. I checked on nethouseprices.com. Neither of the roads in question had "achieved" (sorry to use estate-agentese) that level of prices before.
In Chiswick, a two-bedder (no garden) also on for nearly half a million caught my eye. "Sorry, that's sold. Would you like to register with us for when similar properties become available?" the agent asked. It remains advertised on Rightmove, weeks later, without any note to say it is sold or under offer. In a fast-moving market, are agents using Rightmove as their shop window, advertising products that aren't really for sale to get you in the door? Or was it ever thus?
In Herne Hill, the "pristine pad in a perfect locale" was a tenanted flat in ropey condition, with damp on the walls and a broken pipe spewing grey washing machine water over the garden. The agents were marketing it as perfect for an investor to let out straightaway. Sometimes buy-to-let really makes you want to vomit.
Although my property search has taken in Battersea, Bow, Clapham, Chiswick, East Dulwich, Herne Hill, Highbury, Mortlake, Putney and Walthamstow – virtually all of zone 2 London – I accept my search results are anecdotal. Maybe I've just alighted on a few sought-after properties in a few hot spots.
More about misfortune of sasguru from Wandsworth here: House prices bubble swells in London | Money | The Guardian
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