ED house prices: sanity check please

[Wanhope]

[Apologies in advance to anyone who thinks this subject has already been done to death ...]

I just wanted to quickly check with people house-hunting in the area whether you think the current, advertised starting-point for three-bed terrace houses -- now c. 600K -- is legitimate or utterly arbitrary and driven mainly by local agents. Now I know 'legitimate' is difficult to assess in this context; obviously, if there's demand and people are actually prepared to pay the asking price or thereabouts, then the price is justified. But it seems to me that there's been a massive jump in prices since the beginning of the year -- in the case of three-bed terraces, that jump seems to be c. 50K -- and whenever I ask local agents about it they just go glassy-eyed and repeat the words 'it's demand' to me. I'm skeptical. A 50K price jump in six months? Really? I'm not asking for specific details re prices offered v. prices advertised, but in general terms are vendors actually getting anywhere close to those kinds of asking prices or is the massive hike in asking prices actually translating into only a marginal increase in the amounts offered? Is 600k now *really* the threshold for anyone, like my little family, trying to get a three bed terrace around here?

[mc_hall]

Well. Hello there.?

Given that I am current in the process of moving to East Dulwich (from NW6) I can hope to shed some light on this from a buyers perspective.?

In short, the agents are right. Demand is high. However, supply is also very short. In that regard I wouldn't say that ED is that different from other parts of London that we have been looking to buy. N16 for example is much much worse. The market there is frantic. A property comes on the market on Friday, there's an open house on the Saturday (15 minute slots per couple, 30-40 couples in total viewing), initial bids on Monday and sealed bids on Tuesday. My girlfriend and I had almost a year of this (including 4 gazzumpings!) before we decided to look elsewhere.?

Prices are generally high and I can't see them coming down any time soon because a) supply is so low, b) credit is cheap but not as freely available as it once was, c) the rental market is strong (partly because of supply restrictions) and so people are attracted to the buy-to-let market, d) property yields a good return relative to other investments that are either too risky or eroded through inflation.

You're right to be disgruntled. I am. You're right also to question the integrity of estate agents. They have a vested interest in inflating prices as this keeps their clients happy and allows them to earn more commission.

All I can say is, keep saving hard and get to know the agents. If you struggle to find something or you do find that ED becomes beyond affordable, you may wish to expand your?search.?

Good luck.

Cheerio

M

[Saila]

Same thing happening in peckham

Huge jump in the past few months of a similar ilk

About to get worse when the powers-that-be start printing money

Depressing when you need more space

[stacey-lyn]

The property next door to me hasn't sold in years. It's been listed as a single purchase and/or as 2 separate flats by various agents and despite the shifts in supply & demand over the years, it still remains unsold. Imho, artificially inflated and yes, arbitrary, silly prices.

[Goodliz]

Wanhope, I've sent a pm about a house on our terrace on Goodrich up for under 500 and has 3 beds.

[amydown]

A friend of mine lives on Chesterfield Grove. Apprentl, their next door 3-bedroom terraced house sold for ?650k, ?5k above asking price. Does seem expensive but I think ED must still feel relatively affordable to those buyers being pushed it of areas like Clapham, Putney, etc (and north of the river as suggested).

[Norfolkvillas]

My sister is trying to buy in Honor Oak Park and last weekend was one of 5 parties that went to 'best and final offers' (ie sealed bids) on a three bed house there. Another house on the same street came onto the market a few days later... at an asking price ?40k higher than the one they looked at.

[borderpaul]

I have two friends in Forest Hill who are trying to sell 5 bed houses below ?600k beside Eliot Bank and haven't had a lot of interest albeit both with SE26 postcodes. One of whom is probably going to wait for better times so I think the property market is probably more driven at the moment by wanting to live in the primary areas whereas you would expect the market for family houses in a recession to be driven by Ofsted reports and proximity to transport.

A colleague of mine put his one bed garden flat in Putney on the market for ?400k, got 16 people through the door in 3 days and sold for over 10% above the asking price.

I think you may need to look at houses or areas that initially look a bit rough round the edges but are catering for the ED overflow.

[Townleygreen]

Try Sydenham or Beckenham maybe

[Jeremy]

Good houses in ED seem to go pretty quickly, I think the 600K+ asking prices for 3 beds seem quite realistic - unfortunately.

Houses which need a lot of work seem to stay on the market a lot longer, which is of course understandable. There are reasonable buys to be had if you're willing to roll up your sleeves and invest some hard work.

As has been discussed on other threads, East Dulwich is still cheaper than other fairly nice areas within zone 2, I don't think these sorts of prices are crazy.

[bsand]

Plus the countries most succesfull online community forum - that's another 10% on top.

[borderpaul]

Plus a new M&S and London Overground on the way adding another 20% on top. I think the ?800k+ 3 bed house is quite realistic in the near future or is that just crazy.

[????]

Two houses on our street bought last year needing work and now done up (including loft conversions) went on the market last weekend both sold already... asking prices approaching 800k.

Underground on the way? - don't think that's right bp and certainly hope not, would ruin the area.

[mc_hall]

There has been a lot of talk about M&S coming to lordship lane - is this actually happening and if so, does anyone know when they will arrive?

[hilary g]

The prices are shocking, but they are not all quite 600K, my house is a lovely 3 bed, victorian, detached house, opposite Goodrich school and its up for 585k. I don't know if there really are loads of buyers around as I've only had a couple of viewings in 2 weeks. Maybe I'm using the wrong estate agents!

[Gidget]

???? Wrote:

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

> Two houses on our street bought last year needing

> work and now done up (including loft conversions)

> went on the market last weekend both sold

> already... asking prices approaching 800k.

>

> Underground on the way? - don't think that's right

> bp and certainly hope not, would ruin the area.

3 beds with loft conversions? What road are you in?

[Gidget]

borderpaul Wrote:

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

> Plus a new M&S and London Overground on the way

> adding another 20% on top. I think the ?800k+ 3

> bed house is quite realistic in the near future or

> is that just crazy.

Overground is not coming to ED. Peckham Rye and Denmark Hill only.

[bonaome]

"Is 600k now *really* the threshold for anyone, like my little family, trying to get a three bed terrace around here?"

No I don;t think so. See this Rightmove search http://bit.ly/LiLHxM -But I guess it depends on what exactly you're looking for though I'd have though a few in this list would fit the bill.

*Sorry for messy post, the formatting toolbar has disappeared off the forum.

[uncleglen]

The whole place is overcrowded

[mrcee]

Its worth looking at Honor Oak Park for cheaper houses but great transport links ELL, London Bridge and Kings Cross from Crofton Park Station. Also very good primary schools in Stillness, Fairlawn etc, it wont have the ED feel but close enough to enjoy ED at the weekend.

[borderpaul]

For ?585k you can get a 5 bed house on the same road as Eliot Bank with the transport links of Forest Hill but you won't get the ED feel. If you are at that stage when you want the buzz of ED then live there. It is more enjoyable to live here than visit at weekends.

[Earl Aelfheah]

Average for three bed house is more around the 500 mark. Still stupid money, but then so is everywhere else. There will either be a short term crashnor else a long term stagnation IMO

[jimbo1964]

I've seen a four bed (3+ loft) listed at ?945. That is crazy.

[iceicebaby]

Average income families will struggle to afford a 3-bed house anywhere in London. That's the reality of this city. East Dulwich is an extremely nice neighbourhood and so justifies being 200K + above the average London property.

[AD]

It all stems from demand in my view. The demand for a three bad flat is much less than a three bed house so the difference in price between say a share of Freehold decent 3 bed Flat vs 3 bed House seems to be in excess of 300k. As a proportion this much higher than average.