people still dreaming about house prices

[Spacecadet]

My Mum (who literally is Worcester Woman) and Step-Father sold their house recently in no time at all, and found a new one to buy. 4 weeks to go until moving and the buyer decided to try to drop the offer by £20K. They told him to sod off, and are now somewhat pissed off.

I guess this sort of thing is happening all the time at the moment, which makes it harder to pin down exactly what prices actually are.

called gazundering - happens in a down turn

on the other hand there was plenty of gazumping when houses were selling in stupidly quick time

[The Lone Gunman]

I have no doubt a crash is coming. Current banking crisis is likely to cause business failures which will cause unemployment. New legislation on BTLs could cause sales. I suspect an interest rate increase might come out of all the recent mess which could cause issues.

There is no crash yet, but I think a big one is coming.

[rootsnall]

No, I'm looking to buy a property at around £700K mark, and was hoping to pick up a million pound house that has fallen due to the property crash.

However, no one is interested in offers and everyone seems quite happy to wait as long as it takes to get full asking price.

The Credit Crunch has not affected reasonably wealthy people whatsoever.

Be patient ! It's early days and your time will come. A massive credit bubble has only just burst.

There will be distressed sales but I suspect you are looking in a smallish market so you might have to wait a few years to get what you are after. Are you prepared to sit it out !?

[AlfredJPruffock]

House prices plunged at a new record rate during the year to the end of September - losing 13.2 per cent of their value, Britain's biggest mortgage lender said today.


The fall was the biggest ever recorded by the Halifax house price index, which posted a year-on-year decline of 12.7 per cent in August.

Annual house price inflation, which measures prices during the previous three months compared with the same period a year ago, also dropped to a new record low, with falls of 12.4 per cent, pushing the average cost of a UK home down to £172,108.

[DimPrawn]

House prices plunged at a new record rate during the year to the end of September - losing 13.2 per cent of their value, Britain's biggest mortgage lender said today.


The fall was the biggest ever recorded by the Halifax house price index, which posted a year-on-year decline of 12.7 per cent in August.

Annual house price inflation, which measures prices during the previous three months compared with the same period a year ago, also dropped to a new record low, with falls of 12.4 per cent, pushing the average cost of a UK home down to £172,108.

As I've said, the mean average is meaningless.

Yes city apartments and BTL tulip holes have dropped 50% in one year and this represents a big chunk of the transactions, but quailty top end property is not falling in price as the owners are wealthy and have no reason to cut the prices.

[rootsnall]

It is also showing a 10.3% fall for the past 6 months

[rootsnall]

As I've said, the mean average is meaningless.

Yes city apartments and BTL tulip holes have dropped 50% in one year and this represents a big chunk of the transactions, but quailty top end property is not falling in price as the owners are wealthy and have no reason to cut the prices.

I'll bet you top end property will drop in line with the average ( probably more !?) when the crash has finished.

[The Lone Gunman]

It is also showing a 10.3% fall for the past 6 months

Yes, but is still only an average price of the houses sold (as it has always been). Last year there were quite a few several hundred K houses selling so the average would be up.
If the only 3 houses sold last week were 2 up 2 downs in Barrow the average would be down to 30K.
The news is clearly telling us that very few houses are being sold and I am guessing they ar all in the 150K - 200K bracket.

[DimPrawn]

I'll bet you top end property will drop in line with the average ( probably more !?) when the crash has finished.

Why? Is there suddenly a shortage of rich people?

[rootsnall]

Why? Is there suddenly a shortage of rich people?

Do you not think they get less rich in a recession ?