Homebuying Questions

[crazy canuck]

So Brits and other wise people: There is this stamp duty holiday until March 2021 that is conveniently helping skyrocket prices in our area out of realistic reach for us.

Am I right to read the situation as actually hold off and wait until after the holiday has expired, since FOMO (fear of missing out - I am learning young people's lingo!) no doubt will continue pressure the prices upward until that date? And most pent up demand must be gone by then, with no-deal Brexit ramifications becoming obvious as well.

If an analogy from the market around here is in any way accurate, the market has inflated because of direct government infusion of cash and very low interest rates along with a perception that we had beat COVID - reality has begun to sink in about COVID and government direct cash infusions are coming to an end - as a result the housing market is starting to decline.  Personally I am waiting to see if the predictions of a market decrease will actually happen this time.  This time I think it is likely.

Could be - The problem is that demand hasn't gone away. A real decline will only happen if people largely don't want it to happen!

Right now, so many people are wishing, hoping for a decline. Why? Because they *want* to buy. This makes me think that a downturn will result in high demand, and so not lead to a significant 'bubble bursting' type of downturn.

Wishing to buy and having the financial ability, even if prices go down are different things.  With amount of COVID job loses we have seen, I am not sure the actual demand (ie people who want to and can actually buy) will be that strong - and if that occurs, prices will drop.

[Sheilbh]

Another possibility is that the housing market may remain broadly flat but with interesting structural changes. The big cities look a lot less attractive now that social life is so crimped; an increase in working from home will favour smaller cities/towns and suburbs perhaps.

Chatting to a client who's right on the fraught, contentious Kent/London boundary and he was saying that around him prices are increasing a lot. I know at least two people who are looking to move out of the city to a suburban time (admittedly they're of an age - though one is younger than me ).

Of course I won't have a deposit until I'm 50 so it makes no difference to me, but it is promising for those of us who like living in cities

Also I blame a childhood in the Highlands but I just hate suburban/small towns. Whenever I'm in one I just feel quite angry about it because it's like a bad version of both countryside and city Have the decency to be a big town/small city or a village and nothing in between

[Richard Hakluyt]

I have a particular hatred of the "villages" to the north of Brighton, on the wrong side of the Downs. There is a huge population there but instead of living a proper urban life the inhabitants; nay, denizens; pretend that they are living in villages. They drive everywhere of course and are in general just a bloody nuisance.

London was great fun back in the late 1970s; for anyone with bohemian tendencies I think decaying London is probably preferable to glossy London.......maybe 

[Valmy]

I have a particular hatred of the "villages" to the north of Brighton, on the wrong side of the Downs. There is a huge population there but instead of living a proper urban life the inhabitants; nay, denizens; pretend that they are living in villages. They drive everywhere of course and are in general just a bloody nuisance.

London was great fun back in the late 1970s; for anyone with bohemian tendencies I think decaying London is probably preferable to glossy London.......maybe 

I think nostalgia might be driving that image

People sometimes talk wistfully about New York City in its downperiod but it was a great deal less romantic at the time.

[Richard Hakluyt]

It always helps to be in one's twenties 

[Sheilbh]

It always helps to be in one's twenties 

I think you're both right and there's maybe a balance. Like you don't want to be totally non-decaying (Singapore/Dubai), but you also don't want to be an utter sinkhole of a city (Wells ). You need enough decay that things can happen - artists/club promoters/new chefs etc can find a venue - but not too much. The cooler bits have been moving out of the central London into the the sort of outer-centre/inner suburbs. Those bits may now get filled with the young well-paid urbanites currently in the centre who suddenly want a bit more outdoor space, or easy way of getting out of town etc and the cool bits may come back into the centre?

[garbon]

I've never romanticized decay much to the chagrin of my bank accounts.

[Syt]

You want urban decay? Here's a gallery of 1970s New York.

https://allthatsinteresting.com/1970s-new-york-photos

EDIT: Dumb question - were there no black Barbies in the 70s?`

[Valmy]

Yeah the New York City of "Coming to America" and "Rent" and "Ghostbusters" and dozens and dozens of other pieces of media. Times looked back to with rose tinted glasses by 21st Century New Yorkers being crushed under too damn high rents in a gentrified paradise.

As for multi-ethnic barbies I have no idea.

[merithyn]

EDIT: Dumb question - were there no black Barbies in the 70s?`

Very few, if any.

https://www.history.com/news/barbie-through-the-ages

While there had been other African-American dolls in the Barbie collection before—including Barbie's friend Christie, first introduced in 1968—an official African-American Barbie wasn't created until 1980, alongside a Latina Barbie. That same year saw the first of more than 40 different international Barbies released to date.

[Syt]

Yeah the New York City of "Coming to America" and "Rent" and "Ghostbusters" and dozens and dozens of other pieces of media. Times looked back to with rose tinted glasses by 21st Century New Yorkers being crushed under too damn high rents in a gentrified paradise.

The intro to The Equalizer was less rose tinted: https://youtu.be/g87nDBIyqeU

[merithyn]

I found a house that I love, that's in my price range. My friend is going to go tour it on Sunday, with me on video. She's always loved the house and this is a great excuse for her to go look at the inside of it while showing it to me. I won't be ready to put in a bid until December, but the house has been on the market a bit already, so there's half a chance it will still be available.

Luckily, I'm not the type to "fall in love" with a house. There are a bunch that I've liked; this is just one more.

[Valmy]

I can't see your zillow saves for some reason

[Barrister]

Nor can I.

[merithyn]

Fixed the link. Sorry.