HBOS - "House prices down 2.5% in March"

[DrGUID]

My last landlord got the place I was renting repossessed, and it's only a matter of time before it happens to my current place

Hardly anyone realises property is a leveraged investment - it magnifies your profits, and also your losses!

The Halifax news is a shock - this fall won't have yet factored in most of the credit crunch, the recent mortgage rate hikes or any surge in unemployment as the economy tanks.

[VectraMan]

House prices go up at 2.5% a year (averaged since records began). This isn't conjecture or feeling but FACT.

I don't see any reason why there will be any deviation from this, therefore we're due a correction. I haven't done the maths to work out how much of a correction.

The graph on the front of http://www.housepricecrash.co.uk/ makes it pretty clear. You can see how far below the long term trend the prices were 12 years ago at the start of the boom, and how far above the long term trend they are now.

[DimPrawn]

Lets take an example of a young couple in or near London looking for a flat currently just over £250K.

90% mortgage means £25K+ for the deposit.
Stamp duty at 3% means at least £7.5K tax.
Arrangement fees of nearly £1K on the mortgage.
Legal fees, surveys and moving costs maybe another £1K.

So our young couple need around £30,000 in the bank just to get started.


I suppose they could get a personal loan for the £30K if they need it.

[Turion]

The graph on the front of http://www.housepricecrash.co.uk/ makes it pretty clear. You can see how far below the long term trend the prices were 12 years ago at the start of the boom, and how far above the long term trend they are now.

From graph, will take 0% growth for the next 10 years to get back to the trend. As things will likely go below trend quicker than that, we're looking at 50% loss of value in real terms over the next few years

[AtW]

Local house prices have fallen much more in the last 12 months - I'd considerably more than 10%.

[Cyberman]

Lets take an example of a young couple in or near London looking for a flat currently just over £250K.

90% mortgage means £25K+ for the deposit.
Stamp duty at 3% means at least £7.5K tax.
Arrangement fees of nearly £1K on the mortgage.
Legal fees, surveys and moving costs maybe another £1K.

So our young couple need around £30,000 in the bank just to get started.


I suppose they could get a personal loan for the £30K if they need it.

First time buyers have to be realistic with their expectations and consider looking outside of the city where property is far more affordable. Flats in those areas can be purchased at the moment for much less than 250K, so your example is rather extreme. I I live 40 minutes by train from Waterloo and there is currently a two bed flat near here for sale at 160K.

[BrilloPad]

First time buyers have to be realistic with their expectations and consider looking outside of the city where property is far more affordable. Flats in those areas can be purchased at the moment for much less than 250K, so your example is rather extreme. I I live 40 minutes by train from Waterloo and there is currently a two bed flat near here for sale at 160K.

So is that a 40 minute train ride? How far from station at home end? How far from station at city end?

People usually quote the train time as if that is all that is involved - in London at the home end you are uisually closer to the station.

[gingerjedi]

Lets take an example of a young couple in or near London looking for a flat currently just over £250K.

90% mortgage means £25K+ for the deposit.
Stamp duty at 3% means at least £7.5K tax.
Arrangement fees of nearly £1K on the mortgage.
Legal fees, surveys and moving costs maybe another £1K.

So our young couple need around £30,000 in the bank just to get started.


I suppose they could get a personal loan for the £30K if they need it.

Why don't they agree a price of 150k plus 100k for the 4x4 that comes with the property? Thus avoiding those nasty extra taxes… happens all the time in Spain.

[Cyberman]

So is that a 40 minute train ride? How far from station at home end? How far from station at city end?

People usually quote the train time as if that is all that is involved - in London at the home end you are uisually closer to the station.

I live 200 yards from my local station so 40 minutes to London is realistic.

[DimPrawn]

First time buyers have to be realistic with their expectations and consider looking outside of the city where property is far more affordable. Flats in those areas can be purchased at the moment for much less than 250K, so your example is rather extreme. I I live 40 minutes by train from Waterloo and there is currently a two bed flat near here for sale at 160K.

I live 55 minutes from Paddington, but that still about 80+ miles from West London!

FFS. There are millions of people living in areas where a flat (currently) costs more than £250K. It's not an extreme example at all.