Houseprices...grrrr...

[Roy]

So Accringtons house prices have risen 54% in the last year? How on earth are people supposed to get on the property ladder when the average price of a house is 103,000???

Northern house prices surge ahead
Crewe saw the biggest jump in prices
The top ten property hotspots during the past year were all in the north and west of the UK, according to research from the Halifax.

Crewe in Cheshire, famous for its train station, saw the biggest price gains during the year to the end of June, with the cost of a home soaring by 58%.

Carlisle and Accrington followed hot on the heels of Crewe, seeing price rises of 55% and 54% respectively.

But the bank said there were signs that price growth in the north is slowing.

North-south gap

Four of the top 10 towns which saw the highest increases were in the North West, while three were in Scotland.

The county which recorded the strongest house price growth was Gwynedd in Wales.

Prices in Gwynedd rose 45%, followed by the Tayside and Borders regions in Scotland, both with 43%.

At the other end of the scale, house prices in Dorset rose by 7%, while in Essex the cost of property increased by 10%.

However, Halifax warned that first-time buyers were increasingly being priced out of the market and this was starting to have a negative impact on house price growth in the north and west.

"There are now signs that this, together with the recent rises in interest rates, is causing house price inflation in the north to slow, with prices rising by less in the second quarter of 2004 than in the first quarter in northern England and Wales," Martin Ellis, Halifax chief economist, said.

Top 10 UK Hotspots
Location County 2003 average price 2004 average price % change
Crewe Cheshire £124,540 £196,970 58%
Carlisle Cumbria £95,531 £148,468 55%
Accrington Lancashire £67,002 £103,340 54%
Kirkcaldy Fife £74,300 £113,444 53%
Chorley Lancashire £117,406 £176,509 50%
Airdrie Strathclyde £61,198 £91,429 49%
Darlington County Durham £100,586 £148,793 48%
Oldham Lancashire £76,938 £111,768 45%
Mansfield Nottinghamshire £92,047 £133,043 45%
Kilmarnock Strathclyde £69,841 £100,895 44%
Source: Halifax (Prices as of end of June)

[sarnie boy]

house prices are gettin out of control

[grego]

Its just ridiculous, first time buyers dont stand a chance, the only options are to rent or save for years for a deposit.

[Weary Tourist]

If houses are going for that, then the recent one advertised on ebay, would be attractive and one way to get on the property ladder.

So perhaps first time buyers, like my children, need to look at the problem in a different way.

[WINGY]

All i can say is that i'm glad i bought mine when i was young.
Mum and Dad adviswed me to buy so i did at 19. been here 6 1/2 years now and the value has well over doubled!!

[Mik Dickinson]

So Wingy you are 25 and a half.Interesting.I also saw thw report on Sky news.When i think back to when i was 10 years old and my parents wanted to buy an house off Willows Lane. 5000 pound they wanted for it back then

[lettie]

No good can come of the increasing house prices. When I bought my house in 1990, prices were quite high. Then came the slump in the mid to late 90's and thousands of people ended up in negative equity, unable to sell or move anywhere else because they couldn't afford the financial loss. Many people stretch their finances to the limit in order to buy a house and it only takes the interest rate to increase and they find themselves in trouble.
I've seen this happen, typically to young couples who want a nice new housing estate home and two cars on the driveway. They both work to pay for the house, cars and holiday in the sun, then the woman becomes pregnant!! She can't take extended maternity leave, because they can't afford it. She goes back to work full time when the baby is 3-4months old and ends up with postnatal depression. It's a classic scenario that most midwives see week in week out. People are way too materialistic sometimes. My advice would be to rent until the prices start to fall or level out, then go for a well built older terraced or semi..

[Busman747]

It must be all us southerners selling up and moving north lol Its your fault for being so friendly up here!

[Perran]

It's all going to end in tears. Many people have been forced onto the housing ladder through fear that if they didn't they would not be able to afford a house full stop. They are stretching themselves to the hilt.

Accrington prices have shot up mainly because we are close to Manchester and have good motorway links. I travel the M66 to Manchester everyday and have done for 17years. It used to be a quiet motorway but in the last couple of years there has been a very marked increase in traffic. Prices are cheaper here than Sth Manchester so its an obvious place to set up home.

[WillowTheWhisp]

I was told by a local estate agent not long ago that out of town buyers were snapping up all the cheaper properties almost before they had chance to advertise them and either doing them up and reselling at a vast profit or letting them. Either way it meant they very rarely had any cheaper property available for local first time buyers.

We can't help being friendly up here Busman. It just comes natural.

[Darby]

House prices are currently at a stupid level. I feel sorry for the newly weds and young couples who can't even get on the housemarket ladder.

The real trouble is that everybody speculates to get up the ladder. You can't really blame them, but the houses are not worth the money that's being asked for them. Talking to an estate agent friend of mine, he says that the agents encourage price increases, so that they can make more money. There are also a lot of property speculators, who buy cheap (as Willow just said), and either do them up and re-sell at inflated prices or rent them. I can imagine in a couple of years time that rented property will be at a premium too.
The sell-off of council houses took a dangerous step in making the market rife for inflation. Before that at least young people had a chance to live somewhere at a sensible cost.

[JohnW]

The bubble will burst I'm afraid. Lot's of people are taking the equity out of their houses because the market has been so inflated. However, at the end of the day, it is wage levels which drive house prices and wage levels will not support this over-inflation. House prices will drop again eventually and many people will be left in negative equity for many years to come. What happens then is that no-one can afford to move and the housing market becomes even more flat. It's a vicious circle.
Moral: Leave the equity in your house unless you are absolutely desperate and then, only borrow the minimum amount you need.

[Gobsmacked]

Accrington Lancashire £67,002 £103,340 54%

I've seen plenty of property in Accrington at less than £67,000. I was only there this last weekend. Or are you telling me those have already been bought by property tycoons from elsewhere?

[Bazf]

Sorry had to have a say in this discussion as its my area of work,

However, at the end of the day, it is wage levels which drive house prices and wage levels will not support this over-inflation.

Not really as its not a case of wage levels as they only dictate where a person will live, its jobs and demand that set house prices also the UK is different from the USA because of size and economy,ie you can commute from Doncaster to London by train but cant work in Tampa and live in Melborne, same distance.

Moral: Leave the equity in your house unless you are absolutely desperate and then, only borrow the minimum amount you need.

Most people are not in a position to do that with job transfers and the ever changing life styles, have you noticed how most people have newer cars go out to eat a couple of times a week we have breed a want more society.

Talking to an estate agent friend of mine, he says that the agents encourage price increases, so that they can make more money.
Sounds like hes in the wrong job, I would rather sell 10 houses for say 50,000
then 1 house for 60,000 which is what would happen, he needs to remember that the general public are not stupid and will always go for the best deal.

Property investment is definatly the way to go if you want to make a nice amount of money and is way ahead of the stock market. House prices have increased by over 14% in Florida on an annual basis for the last 4 years and the report I read for the UK was 12% a year for the last 10 years with 25-60% for the last 2 years. If you bought a house for 45,000 5yrs ago you would be selling it for 72,000 today a profit of 27,000 the stock market and bond market was averaging 13% over the same period which would give you about 8,000 in profit.
Dont forget you dont need the whole amount to buy a house so if you look at a 67,000 house and you put down say 5% 3350, pay a mortage for a couple of years by renting it out then sell for a profit, these arn't property tycoons they are your average joe.

[Perran]

Originally Posted by Gobsmacked

I've seen plenty of property in Accrington at less than £67,000. I was only there this last weekend. Or are you telling me those have already been bought by property tycoons from elsewhere?

The figures relate to average house prices then and now showing a 54% increase in the period.