Matt 0 Posted May 26, 2007 Share Posted May 26, 2007 About a year and a bit ago some of my friends were moving into swanky flats in the middle of town. I'm thinking about moving out soon and while such an investment is well out of my range, I'm keeping tabs on the market. It might just be me, but it seems that the average price for city centre flats is falling- is anyone here in the business and able to prove/disprove the theory? These sorts of places are the first to feel the pinch of a slowdown and with the recent rate rise being approved unanimously I wonder if these are signs of a wider slowdown of the market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted May 26, 2007 Share Posted May 26, 2007 (edited) Is that really the sort of thing you should be posting at this time on Saturday night? Edited May 26, 2007 by alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt 0 Posted May 26, 2007 Author Share Posted May 26, 2007 Is that really the sort of thing you should be posting at this time on Saturday night? I'm spent up, you twat. This is as exciting as it gets close season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fish 11080 Posted May 26, 2007 Share Posted May 26, 2007 to be honest a lot of the cities which have beneftitted from shrugging off their industrial image and are spreading into more financial businesses seem to have a surplus of accomodation. Leeds is cheap as chips, a two bedroomed riverside apartment with everything you'd expect from a professional pad is going for £300 per room a month. exc bills and council tax, even those would take it to about £450 which is not too bad at all really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peasepud 59 Posted May 27, 2007 Share Posted May 27, 2007 I havent noticed any significant change in the prices down here, they havent dropped but they definitely havent gone up at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Kenneth Noisewater 0 Posted May 27, 2007 Share Posted May 27, 2007 I think Fish is probably right. That type of city apartment has probably reached saturation point now. I feel sorry for young single people who are not on the property ladder. If you're earning less than £25k it's becoming almost impossible to buy a house. It would be great if someone could build basic starter homes for say £60-80k. But of course they would be snapped up by people looking to make a profit and the market value would soon shoot up. I don't know what the answer is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewerk 31600 Posted May 27, 2007 Share Posted May 27, 2007 It would be great if someone could build basic starter homes for say £60-80k. But of course they would be snapped up by people looking to make a profit and the market value would soon shoot up. I don't know what the answer is. More of these with restrictions on buying to let. Ikea Flat-Pack Properties to Begin Building in the UKThe Ikea flat-pack homes, named "BoKlok", are to begin being built in the UK from June - and there has already been considerable interest in the development situated in Gateshead. The flat-pack properties were first dreamed up in the 1990s by Ikea and another Swedish firm called Skanska. The need for new, affordable housing has led to a surge of interest in the scheme which sees the properties being partially constructed in factories before being fully assembled on site. So far more than 3,500 have already been built in Sweden. These homes are a far cry from the post-war pre-fabricated houses many of us are familiar with - they are modern, chic, have extra high ceilings, large windows and balconies. The UK company who are coordinating the Gateshead development, Live Smart @ Home are part of the affordable housing group called Home. Since planning permission was granted earlier in the year, they have been overwhelmed with enquiries. The first stage of the building programme will see 36 BoKlok flats being built - aimed at households earning between £15,000 and £35,000 per year - and the developers believe they can offer a far higher standard than traditional affordable housing. A second application has been put in to buid another 84 properties - consisting mainly of 2 and 3 bedroom houses. The initial homes will sell for between £90,000 an £120,000 with the option to buy in a share or with full ownership. This development is a success partly due to the willingness of the local council to support an unusual project - and hopefully they will lead the way for more projects of this type. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt 0 Posted May 27, 2007 Author Share Posted May 27, 2007 I feel sorry for young single people who are not on the property ladder. If you're earning less than £25k it's becoming almost impossible to buy a house. I'm certainly unable to buy anywhere with just my salary without more or less condemning myself to poverty. I'm wondering if I even want to bother at all. My gripe is that the housing market is a self-fulfulling prophecy. It seems to have reached the stage where it becomes the be-all and end-all for many people and are prepared to make all sorts of sacrifices just to 'get on the ladder'. It's madness. The climate now is that you have to get on the ladder with all you can afford even if it's a shit stack in the Bronx. Funny how it's always mortgage lenders and estate agents who put out these forecasts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewerk 31600 Posted May 27, 2007 Share Posted May 27, 2007 Here's hoping they hike the interest rate even more and the whole things crashes on its ass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catmag 337 Posted May 27, 2007 Share Posted May 27, 2007 Gonna be looking to buy a house myself soon. Not looking forward to the kind of money involved Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peasepud 59 Posted May 27, 2007 Share Posted May 27, 2007 I feel sorry for young single people who are not on the property ladder. If you're earning less than £25k it's becoming almost impossible to buy a house. I'm certainly unable to buy anywhere with just my salary without more or less condemning myself to poverty. I'm wondering if I even want to bother at all. My gripe is that the housing market is a self-fulfulling prophecy. It seems to have reached the stage where it becomes the be-all and end-all for many people and are prepared to make all sorts of sacrifices just to 'get on the ladder'. It's madness. The climate now is that you have to get on the ladder with all you can afford even if it's a shit stack in the Bronx. Funny how it's always mortgage lenders and estate agents who put out these forecasts. My view as well, I have a good job, like to think I earn good money but the kind of house I could buy wouldnt be much cop these days, plus the deposit would be ridiculous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rikko 20 Posted May 27, 2007 Share Posted May 27, 2007 Gonna be looking to buy a house myself soon. Not looking forward to the kind of money involved It is kinda sickening when you look at the money. What makes it even worse is that you don't ever see any of it. I bought a house and it didn't involve physically handing any money over or actually going to a bank or anything. Just kinda made an offer and picked up the keys 7 weeks later. Was a surreal feeling for me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catmag 337 Posted May 27, 2007 Share Posted May 27, 2007 Gonna be looking to buy a house myself soon. Not looking forward to the kind of money involved It is kinda sickening when you look at the money. What makes it even worse is that you don't ever see any of it. I bought a house and it didn't involve physically handing any money over or actually going to a bank or anything. Just kinda made an offer and picked up the keys 7 weeks later. Was a surreal feeling for me... It is pretty weird. Originally bought a house in 1999 and you just know that you're in mega-debt except like you say, you never hand anything over. Only thing is that this time round the amount of debt is going to be more than double the first time which is a complete pisser. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Kenneth Noisewater 0 Posted May 27, 2007 Share Posted May 27, 2007 Gonna be looking to buy a house myself soon. Not looking forward to the kind of money involved It is kinda sickening when you look at the money. What makes it even worse is that you don't ever see any of it. I bought a house and it didn't involve physically handing any money over or actually going to a bank or anything. Just kinda made an offer and picked up the keys 7 weeks later. Was a surreal feeling for me... It is pretty weird. Originally bought a house in 1999 and you just know that you're in mega-debt except like you say, you never hand anything over. Only thing is that this time round the amount of debt is going to be more than double the first time which is a complete pisser. And for the first few years you don't seem to be making any impression on that debt, just paying interest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jill 0 Posted May 28, 2007 Share Posted May 28, 2007 Ugh, I'm saving for a house but it's pretty much a lost cause at the minute. Had a few auction catalogues through work recently and there's barely anything that's remotely affordable, unless it's a massive dump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meenzer 15871 Posted May 28, 2007 Share Posted May 28, 2007 I was having a look around at a few estate agents when I was up over the weekend, since there's no chance I'll be able to afford anything in London when the time comes. Doubt I can persuade the better half to leave the big smoke for the banks of the Tyne, but I thought it was worth a look if only for information purposes, to get a feel for how things are in a "provincial" city (if that doesn't sound excessively patronising). It was just as depressing as down here though. My parents moved out of their old house in 1997 and got a decent price for it; now you'll pay the same amount for one-third of the same building. Gaah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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