Has the housing market in ED reached its bottom yet?

[local estate agent]

You really don't like estate agents do you Acedout, think you have had a bad dealing with one?!

Perhaps your the one with a bad judgement of character who picked the wrong agent?

Or maybe just a tight arse, who chose to pay the cheapest fee, and in return got a cheap service?

At the end of the day, your right.... you dont need someone to tell you what a room looks like, and I am sure you are not that naive to thinks that all we do?

The people we show round property..... that comes from marketing and customer service (something else we provide)!!

I could go on, but I get fed up. I know i enjoy what I do, and get paid fairly well for doing it. I hope you get the same satisfaction out of whatever you do for a living?!

[Moos]

Shaggy Wrote:

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ANBODY

> WHO HAS A MORTGAGE SHOULD JUST JUMP INTO THE POND

> IN PECKHAM RYE WITH STONES IN THEIR POCKETS

I reckon anyone who does this will find themselves standing knee deep in muddy water and feeling extremely foolish.

[Shaggy]

Moos Wrote:

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

> Shaggy Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> ANBODY

> > WHO HAS A MORTGAGE SHOULD JUST JUMP INTO THE

> POND

> > IN PECKHAM RYE WITH STONES IN THEIR POCKETS

>

> I reckon anyone who does this will find themselves

> standing knee deep in muddy water and feeling

> extremely foolish.

That was sort of my point.

[AcedOut]

local estate agent - check your facts and less assumptions please. I've never sold a property through an agent, only bought. And unless I'm mistaken, it's tough to choose an estate agent when you're buying (particularly since most vendors opt for a sole agent). I'd love to have dealt directly with the vendor(s), but your commission seeking filthy pockets prevent this somewhat.

Again, your response merely strengthens my attitude towards your 'profession' (grammar aside). Do you not have anything better to be doing right now? Ahhh, no... probably not huh!? lol

[local estate agent]

5.50pm on a Friday!! Not the busiest time of the day/week!!

I just love the banter AcedOut, its nothing personal...

Everyone is entitled to an opinion..

:))

[AcedOut]

Banter!? That was weak! *yawn*

[local estate agent]

im bored now....

[*Bob*]

local estate agent Wrote:

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> im bored now....

Slow day?

Don't lose heart!

A potential buyer could walk in any minute and you could be showing them where the kitchen (etc) is in no time.

[local estate agent]

Not bored of work - bored of AcedOut..

thanks for caring though Bob

Just for the record, things have picked up some what, so plenty to do thanks...

[mockney piers]

"the FT is boring as it gets. Poorly written articles..."

Much like the economy, the FT went all short termist with a healthy dose of misguided optimism when, with revenues and circulation dropping they decided the solution was to pension off all their experienced staff in one swell foop and replace them all with a bunch of graduates who were totally out of their depth but with no old hands to show them the ropes.

Expect photos of Paris Hilton any time soon

[kevbeachy]

Report on the news this morning says London is the only property not to have dropeed with average property prices up 4%? Hope this is my road.

[Jeremy]

4% rise in *asking prices* last month. Possibly because of wealthier people being out of a job?

[benmorg]

local estate agent Wrote:

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> Just for the record, things have picked up some

> what, so plenty to do thanks...

can we trust you to be honest about the state of the local market? It's hard to believe london prices are in recovery after the sh*tstorm of the last two weeks. Note also that mortgage approvals have fallen further to a new record low:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7630976.stm

and if you want to know what this means for house prices in the next six months (and have a head for charts), look at this:

http://www.houseprices.uk.net/articles/property_transactions/

and this:

http://www.houseprices.uk.net/articles/house_price_predictor/

[local estate agent]

It has got busier - not selling as much as we have in the past, as alot of people are still very concerned of the market!

But, the level of enquiries have gone up massively!

[AcedOut]

Doesn't the housing market usually lag the financial markets by approximately 6 months? If so, prices will continue to slide 'till at least April of next year. I'm still holding out, although I'm sure there are bargains still to be had - but only if asking prices can be beaten down at a good offer.

Your most likely enquiries are undoubtedly from concerned sellers I'd imagine.

[local estate agent]

A mix of enquiries really, alot from experienced investors who know that house prices have come down, and that they can get themselves a investment property at a good price..

The housing market gets affected in different ways, East Dulwich and Dulwich Village prices seem to get aafected less as opposed to areas in Peckham, Camberwell and Forest Hill etc...

ED is a very popular area, and a lot of people that could only afford FH for example now realise they can actually afford ED, so are looking to get somewhere now whilst there is a good choice of property at a slightly lower price..

[macroban]

> alot from experienced investors who know that house prices have come down, and that they can get themselves a investment property at a good price..

Experienced investors buying when gross return is less than 15% pa?

Interesting.

[????]

The big issue is that the chaos in the financial markets is possibly coming to an end (but it may be the eye of the storm) but its effects on the 'real' economy have yet to really hit in any way whatsoever yet.....massive loss in bonuses, massive rise in higher pay service economy unemployment, credit hard to come by for investment, etc etc THAT's when wave 2 hits - restaurants/bars/shops closing, increase in reopossesions.... London is highly overexposed to Financial Services and reaped the rewards in the boom, now it's payback time...the housing market is fooked for a fair few years IMO. Reduce debt, batten the hatches, hold on, don't lose your job, get divorced, get ill, retire......the 1990s recession will seem like tea party...

[benmorg]

local estate agent Wrote:

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> It has got busier - not selling as much as we have

> in the past, as alot of people are still very

> concerned of the market!

> But, the level of enquiries have gone up

> massively!

I chatted to the manager of one of the estate agents in clapham just under two weeks ago about the state of the s. london market. He said the market was still dead and city workers are keeping away because of fear of job losses (note this was before the oollapse of lehmans and all that followed). He advised me to keep out of the market for the time being.

Since then, we've had the biggest banking crisis for 70 years and thousands of redundancies at lehman bros. are you sure enquiries are going up "massively" or are you just seeing the usual september activity after the end of the summer lull?

[Muttley]

Does anyone else find it odd that despite the market apparently being dead for months, not only has Lordship Lane not yet seen a single one of its agents close, but Ludlow Thompson has actually invested in a big new office, and Caleb Samuels is surviving as a new kid in the backstreet. Surely something has to give soon. Or is property letting really that lucrative?

[jrthomas_uk]

F*ck me people are rude to each other on this forum.

As it happens, I'm not too keen on Estate Agents either but I know several people buying in ED at the moment for the exact reasons stated by local estate agent. No one can agree over the housing market so its a rather pointless exercise slating other people's opinions.

Anyway maybe, for those with the balls, they will do well from taking advantage of the turbulent market conditions.

[snorky]

.

[AcedOut]

Now is too soon to take advantage of the situation in my opinion. There are still some cherries out there though, but it depends on the vendors' desperation to sell. I will be waiting another 6 months at least. It's a good place to be if you're a first time buyer or looking to move up the property ladder. Time is on your side.

As for city jobs, last I checked, they contribute to around 8% of GDP. If you could look at GDP regionally for London, that's obviously going to be significantly higher. The reduction in salaries/bonuses and jobs is going to have a huge knock-on affect on the housing market. The best thing you can do right now is put all your money in Swiss Franks (or any other mostly hard currency). Our currency is going to weaken dramatically over the coming years (as is the USD). Printing money doesn't come for free and with prices going up in China etc anyway, our import costs are going to go through the roof.

If you must invest in property, then go buy land near the beach in Cambodia. The Chinese are only getting richer and that's going to be a huge holiday destination for them.

All just my personal opinion.

[benmorg]

AcedOut Wrote:

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> Now is too soon to take advantage of the situation

> in my opinion. There are still some cherries out

> there though, but it depends on the vendors'

> desperation to sell. I will be waiting another 6

> months at least. It's a good place to be if

> you're a first time buyer or looking to move up

> the property ladder. Time is on your side.

>

> As for city jobs, last I checked, they contribute

> to around 8% of GDP. If you could look at GDP

> regionally for London, that's obviously going to

> be significantly higher. The reduction in

> salaries/bonuses and jobs is going to have a huge

> knock-on affect on the housing market. The best

> thing you can do right now is put all your money

> in Swiss Franks (or any other mostly hard

> currency). Our currency is going to weaken

> dramatically over the coming years (as is the

> USD). Printing money doesn't come for free and

> with prices going up in China etc anyway, our

> import costs are going to go through the roof.

>

> If you must invest in property, then go buy land

> near the beach in Cambodia. The Chinese are only

> getting richer and that's going to be a huge

> holiday destination for them.

>

> All just my personal opinion.

you may well be right about the pound and dollar. Depreciating pound is a double whammy for property owners: not only is the value of homes currently falling, but the value of the pound vs the euro or other currencies will probably fall faster. If inflation keeps up, even steady house prices are actually falling in real terms, which amounts to a triple whammy. All three factor make uk property a dreadful investment from an international point of view, which is very bad news for the top end of the london property market.

mind you, houses in france are still relatively cheap..

[macroban]

If the government needs to borrow an extra ?60bn in 2009/10 it will have to increase the coupon on gilts.

Interest rates will increase.

The East Dulwich borrow-to-let "business model" will be broken.