A curse be on your houses

worm
8 Comments »


I am in the rather unenviable position of being a 'first-time home buyer', and for those of you who haven't been one for some time, let me tell you that now is not a good time to be looking for one's first house. A year or so ago, I was rubbing my hands with glee at the prospect of falling property prices meaning that I could finally purchase a decent sized place and begin having a family.

However that price drop never materialised - what transpired was that nobody wanted to sell their houses, which meant a smaller and smaller pool of properties to choose from, keeping prices up through scarcity and leaving only overpriced tat. It's shocking what absolute dross is out there for comical prices. The thing is, I could definately afford to move into a house tomorrow - I just don't want to move into a tiny council estate shoebox with no garden. There's currently no way that we could afford to move into a house anywhere near as luxurious as the one we're renting. And let's not forget that I am already in the lucky situation of having a pretty decent salary compared to many my age - I dread to think what it's like for teachers and others like them.

I wonder how long this constipated market is going to continue for? Will there ever be a proper correction or is it just going to keep on going up and up?




8 comments:

Brit said...

Everyone's got a theory about house prices, but so long as Britons still desire to own rather than rent, I can't see anything other than up and up and up.

We had to slum it a little when we bought our first house, compared to what we'd been renting, but it turned out to be a shrewd purchase and a few years down the line we have some equity and we're in a position to buy something much better within the next year or so. (That shrewdness was entirely due to my wife, I hasten to add).

5 May 2010 at 06:12
Gadjo Dilo said...

Yes, tricky. My first foot onto the property ladder was half a terraced house wihtin a stone's throw from Broadwater Farm, fairly soon after the Tottenham riots and the policeman being killed there. It too proved to be a sound investment, in time - but I was lucky. You have 6+ years before worrying about where the decent schools might be (isn't it?), so... I dunno, it's up to you.

5 May 2010 at 06:27
worm said...

Here's the thing Brit - I wouldn't mind 'slumming it' in a property with a bit of potential (in fact I would love it, and I have previous work experience as a builder and property developer)- but believe me, where I live there's NOTHING with potential. Anything cheap is bought up by the student landlords who pay in cash on the spot.

I could live nearer work in Solihull - but dying of ebola is preferable to living in Solihull.

Hmm.

5 May 2010 at 06:36
worm said...

god , schools Gadjo - don't scare me with yet more things to worry about!

5 May 2010 at 06:40
Gareth Williams said...

I don't think things are going to change unless we have economic meltdown. So assuming that's not going to happen (simply because life would be intolerable otherwise) I would learn to love renting. I would also save as much as I can. The days of easy equity creation are probably over for a while now and good old saving will have to be relied upon.

5 May 2010 at 09:01
worm said...

I dont mind renting Gaw - as mentioned, we have a beautiful house - only reason I wanted to get on the ladder was to use the mortgage on a house as a method of enforced saving - don't fancy putting anything into a normal savings account at the mo due to the laughably pathetic rates!

5 May 2010 at 12:27
Susan said...

I agree with Gaw - economic meltdown, or a revolution, or both should be sufficient to change the nature of the UK housing market. You don't strike me as being the anarchic type, worm?

6 May 2010 at 00:20
worm said...

I used to be Susan - until I married a German, and now even my sock draw is organised in a grid formation and by corresponding colours.

6 May 2010 at 02:36

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