Property Price Reality

[pez]

Sorry, boring subject but I have a question regarding property sales in East Dulwich.

It seems properties are being advertised at higher prices than ever before in the area and I was wondering whether these prices are actually being reached. I ask because we're trying to buy a 2 bed flat with a garden and discovering nice ones advertised at ?350,000+. However, land registry sold prices show similar places selling for ?280,000+ over the past couple of years. So are vendor's expectations vastly inflated, or have prices shot up in the area recently?

[henryb]

Apparently it is the new Notting Hill.

[red devil]

The LR does lag behind, but not that much.

Go to estate agents and ask them what they have sold recently.

They should still have details of the properties on their files, so you can then make direct comparisons as to what prices have been achieved according to location, condition, layout etc.

The LR won't have such detailed info.

[SteveUK1978]

We bought in ED almost exactly 12 months ago and you are quite right - the prices that are being advertised are much higher than they were.

We bought a 3 br terraced house and I would say very similar properties are bieng listed c10% (or more) higher than they were at that time. Just a personal view (rather than based on cold hard facts) but I still get the emails from Rightmove etc and there have not been that many on the market. My gut feel is that this lackof supply means things are still selling and giving people the confidence to put up a higher initial asking price. I also suspect that they don't get that when it comes to it.

Probably no help at all but that's my penny's worth....

[wee quinnie]

I have been told by someone in the know that there is actually a bit of a shortage of property....hence prices being relatively high.

[Loz]

Having just run the gamut of estate agents it seems that the market is very slow at the moment - people are opting to sit tight until things look brighter. So, there are a shortage of properties coming onto the market, but still a decent number of buyers around. Thus it's a bit of - but not hugely - a sellers market, so prices are on the up a bit. But they've really only come back to about where they were pre-2009.

[benmorg]

pez Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Sorry, boring subject but I have a question

> regarding property sales in East Dulwich.

> It seems properties are being advertised at higher

> prices than ever before in the area and I was

> wondering whether these prices are actually being

> reached. I ask because we're trying to buy a 2 bed

> flat with a garden and discovering nice ones

> advertised at ?350,000+. However, land registry

> sold prices show similar places selling for

> ?280,000+ over the past couple of years. So are

> vendor's expectations vastly inflated, or have

> prices shot up in the area recently?

I hear that the ED housing market has been pretty healthy this year, with number of serious buyers outweighing supply, which is holding up prices. People seem to have decided that London property is a one-way bet, which is a dangerous assumption given the fact that the market is still propped up by near zero bank rate. The new transport connections and Olympics might be having an effect too (though the Olympic effect is temporary).

I'd guess final price is about 5% under asking, but more if the vendor is being greedy. Watch out for landlords chancing their arm. Often they don't need to sell and consequently will ask for silly money.

[motorbird83]

Our neighbour recently sold their 2 bed flat (no garden) for ?380,000 but its a very big flat. Look at the sold prices on right move as its the best way to see what properties are selling for along with all the details that were included when it was for sale on the website (floorplan, pics etc). I would say agents typically suggest listing for a bit more so its always worth haggling. However, our neighbours were willing to wait as they weren't in a huge rush and ended up getting very close to asking. The bits of ED that are closest to the new East London line extension seem to have gotten a boost.

Good luck!

[stephen509]

It would depend what road & size obviously....but I wouldn't expect a 2 bed garden flat to go for below ?320k

[KestonKid]

A useful site where you can sign up to receive a free monthly report detailing what has sold in your area, with prices, is Ourproperty.co.uk

[rbrtdngl]

I would be incredibly surprised if you could find a 2 bedroom garden flat for 320 in good condition. You are completely right, it varies from house to house and road to road. ED continues to change as more people are descovering it and property still remains cheaper than in neighbouring areas (clapham, herne hill, brixton etc) or north london. A manager from Foxtons told me about nine months ago than their branch in ED is their busiest in london with over 9000 people registered on their books. Several people I know who have moved to ED over the past two years and who have bought 2 bed houses/flats have all paid in excess of 400. Admittedly they have been in areas near good schools and shops.

[Jeremy]

Been tentatively looking at houses recently, but good ones tend to get snapped up very, very quickly. So I assume that desirable properties must be fetching close to the asking price.

[carlak]

I recently bought and also found a lack of good property on the market. It seems most people are sitting tight on what they have.

I had to move quickly when I found the one I wanted as there is a bit of competition out there. I ended up getting the property for 10% under asking price.

[meadow408]

Interesting what all you ppl are saying as I have been monitoring the 3 bed properties for a few months now and according to Zoopla and propertysnake it looks like reductions have been in the order of 7% to 8% for houses that have been on the market for 3 months or so. Maybe it's a two tier market with good properties getting snapped quickly and average ones having to reduce prices to their true value...

[Otta]

A good mate has just very quickly got the 350k asking price for his 2 bed with roof terrace. Also, I recently spoke to a couple I know who sold there 3 bed terraced house on Heber for 450k.

So yes, ED house prices do seem to be a bit mental.

[James]

I always thought a good property would sell itself but I now realise how important a good estate agent is.

Recently sold our lovely garden flat in ED for just below asking price, which we thought was pretty good going. However this was only once we'd put it on with a good agent who set up lots of viewings.

[mrcee]

Zoopla and propertysnake seem to give a skewed view of property. Zoopla has incresed tha value of my place by 30% in the last year and i thought the start value was too low and now the current value too high.

Zoopla in particular needs a high turnover to improve accuracy on valuation. Ourproperty is good for sold values and rightmove now does sold values with the property description, photos etc so worth a look

[ratty]

James Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I always thought a good property would sell itself

> but I now realise how important a good estate

> agent is.

>

> Recently sold our lovely garden flat in ED for

> just below asking price, which we thought was

> pretty good going. However this was only once we'd

> put it on with a good agent who set up lots of

> viewings.

Who was this? Gonna put mine on the market next month!

[James]

I think a big factor in choosing an agent is whether they have a number of similar properties to yours or not on their books. If they do, it tends to count in your favour as people who are viewing the others will probably come to see yours too.

Also I think pricing your property aggressively highly (quite common round here) is a big risk. If it sticks around too long it will put people off - and people who are too scared to put in a cheeky offer won't even bother to see it.

[gm99]

SE5/SE15 borders, my impression is that asking prices for family houses are way higher than a couple of years ago (like 20%+).

I wonder if there is a Foxton's effect going on? Someone I know currently looking for a 2-bed flat mentioned one on at 260 that fell through under offer at something like 245 and then went on with Foxtons at 299k...

Talking to someone else I know who is an estate agent he described the way that agents will inflate prices simply to win instructions, and then try and 'manage vendors' expectations' down once offers come in. If you are a local agent valuing at 260k and someone comes along and says they'll get 299 for it, what are you going to do...?

On houses, my impression is that there is a shortage coming onto the market and lots of demand - plus mortgage debt is very cheap if you have a good chunk of equity/cash, so while prices may be up, costs are probably not up as much.

[sugarmouse]

Come to Forest Hill - you can get a 3 bed house for that! Only 10 mins on bus to Lordship Lane and better transport links with new Overground Line. Problem solved!

[simonethebeaver]

Our two bed garden flat is on the market at the moment for slightly more than we want for it, but only slightly. We've had no offers though. We've priced it based on four valuations and the sale prices of similar properties and it is on for more than 350k. However it's more than 1000 sq ft, direct access to large private south facing garden, less than 10 minutes from station and in the catchment of an excellent primary. So I think it's worth it. As someone also looking, prices for houses are rocketing. Nunhead in particular seems to be shooting up. The ELL has caused house prices near Honor Oak and Forest Hill to go up substantially in the last two years.

[Sue]

sugarmouse Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Come to Forest Hill - you can get a 3 bed house

> for that! Only 10 mins on bus to Lordship Lane and

> better transport links with new Overground Line.

> Problem solved!

xxxxxxx

Yes, but maybe there's a reason why house prices are cheaper in Forest Hill ..... so unless your main priority is better transport links, you might not want to move there .....

[dita-on-tees]

And what reason is that then Sue?

[James]

The reason is that Forest Hill is a known hangout for clowns