My perception using the homeseeker thursday scan method is that prices have not really fallen since last summer - maybe 2% - but nothing is moving. I believe it will not be long untill people have to start being reallistic with thier asking prices, espescially because of the poor wages in the area (84% of national average, 3 bed detached estate house with garrage is currently about 210K). Any others care to comment.

Still no real change and nothing really moving. Starting to see the odd decent 10k discounts, these are the only ones that are selling. Hopefully should start to see some decent action in the comming months when national YOY figures start going red.

A 3 bed for 210K? In Plymouth? The world really has gone mad. Haven't been there for years, but unless it has had a giant scrub up I still wouldn't want to live in vast tracts of it - too many post-war samey houses in uniform grey pebbledash.

does any body from plymouth visit this site?

A 3-bed for £210k ..... in Plymouth? Now that IS madness! I lived there from 1994 - 1997 and the house I lived in (3 bed 2 receptions) was valued at approx. £30k.

I mean, it's an OK city but salaries can't have grown that much! Makes me wish I'd got myself a mortgage and bought there but I was only 18 and mortgages seemed such a scarey old-person thing to do!

Where-abouts do you live in Plymouth?

Yeah, I do. As per your other posts, no big price falls down here yet. Although it seems that alot of properties are sticking on the market and I'm seeing a good deal of 'new price' ads in the homeseeker.

Ive looked at buying several times over the previous 2 years down this way, each time not quite going through with it as I had a gut feeling it was all wrong. A couple of places I looked at 4+ months ago Ive had my eye on since and there not shifting, although the vendors are starting to shave the price on some (although not by nearly enough, just 2 or 3K).

A friend of a friend works for any estate agent on Mutley and Ive been wanting to sound him out about the state of the market, although not had the chance yet (weather he tell me the truth is another thing ) He said some time ago that it was pretty on/off, one week no customers and the next busy, etc.

Anyway, sit tight and it will happen eventually, just gonna take a few years or more.

I live in Plymouth (or rather I have done- I now live out near Tavistock), and agree that prices are totally unrealistic in relation to earnings. Plymouth prices will have to correct themselves, as very few local people are presently able to afford homes- particularly given the fact that local incomes are low in comparison to the national average. Given the fact that Plymouth is not seen as being a 'desirable' place to live, we are not going to see an influx of second home owners pricing FTBs out of the market (as has happened in places like Polzeath, Dartmouth etc). I personally have no intention of buying a place in Plymouth- the majority of places within my budget are located in areas that make Baghdad seem hospitable!

Ahoy there shipmate - is that the war canoe of the pussers variety by any chance? - Plymouth has gone mad and have a long way to fall. Incomes are 84% national average and HPs about 110% national average. On that basis alone we should be looking at a hefty correction even if HPC does not deliver (which it will). Any way, I think I am going to sit out the next few years at tax payers expense in FQs, sh1tholes I know but for £200 a month what do you expect. Live the dream.

Look forward to hearing any EA news in the area

Aye Ian, am a fellow fishead- soon to be living the dream on a Pompey Gash Barge. My plan is much the same as yours- set up camp in the mess, save beer tokens, await the crash and clean up when prices get a little (or lot) more sensible. Hopefully save 1k a month whilst at sea, then take full LSAP and a smaller mortgage.

A question for you though- how do matelots get looked upon in terms of mortgages? Do we get given bigger multiples for being in the mob? We must be seen as a good risk, given the security of employment we have, and the fact that most of us know what pay band we are going to be on for the forseeable future.

Personally don't want to live in Plymouth, but agree that prices are absolutely mad, especially given local incomes.

There are definate signs that things are starting to fall here, though it is all still very expensive when you consider wages here. A lot of the properties I have been monitoring (4 bed detached upto 300k) have taken 10-20k hits on asking price and still nothing is shifting. Looks well set for a grim winter.

plymouth has been static in regards to prices, perhaps marginal falls in the last couple of months. However I have noticed that better quality properties are shifting if they are competitively price. there is still a lot of perrenial dross about tha needs a good 10% cut to stand a chance of shifting. Will be interesting to see where things go from here I reckon we are 8% of peak at the moment and reckon on gradual but sustained falls of a total of 5% houses-10% flats by the end of 06. That will do for me.

Any body else live in/watching plymouth???

Just thought i would give this one an airing. My radar detects house prices are static at the moment - a few less on the market than last year though and we are starting to see quite a few kite flyers come on the market for the so called spring bounce, but they are not selling. We are certainly not seeing any the big rises being muted elsewhere, but frustraitingly no falls either . Where does it go from here - down (i hope) from june I reckon but its going to be slow :-( I will probably be buying back into the market in a year (got to - wife pressure) so fingers crossed that something gets it moving soon.

I live in Stoke,Plymouth.It`s pretty clear that prices are at best static.In terms of percentage increase,Plymouth came about the 5th highest in the U.k.How that has happened with the kind of wages hereI have no idea.

Three houses by me have sold signs up,however ,strange to say,one of them has not even had an offer on it!!!!!!!!

A bit alarming but in the past month or so there has been a definate upswing in prices on new listings on my patch (saltash), stuff that would have been 235 in december now pushing 250 and beyond. Madness I know but does any other plymothian see the same or is this a local blip

a few examples are shown below

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-117...pa_n=1&tr_t=buy

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-121...pa_n=2&tr_t=buy

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-120...pa_n=2&tr_t=buy

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-747...pa_n=2&tr_t=buy

News that the naval base may be up for closure

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/5361456.stm

Any body got any opinions on whether this will happen and what impact it might have on HP's.

For those of you who dont realise how HPs have taken of here then check the random ones out fresh on the market today. Note that the ave wage here is 84% national average.


bank managers house
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-131...=1&tr_t=buy

plumbers house
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-131...=2&tr_t=buy

labourers house
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-133...=4&tr_t=buy

Hi from Pymouth.I read in a magazine that for some reason{not explained}that Plymouth was about to become a ``hot spot``.Looked on wrongmove today and was gob smacked.In Stoke there are a lot of 2 bed houses the same as I have.For a good while they have been £120k ish.Today one very close to me is on at a tad below £135k.Other properties in the area have also risen since I last looked.

I agree it has gone mad in the last few months, totally against my expectations - and they seem to be selling too- who in plymouth can really afford to have a 100K+ mortgage for a 2 bed when the average wage is probably around the 16k mark - I think quite a lot of the smaller stuff is going BTL to house the Polish invasion - probably fit about 8 of em in a 2 bed - madness and i dont want any of it - i will sit it out in my forces married quarter for £200 a month until it returns to reality and count my STR stash.

Well according to Wrongmove I guess properties are about 8 to 10 per cent up on about 6 months ago.No idea who is buying them tho!

Maybe it's all those students parents buying up places for their kids?!
Can't imagine why Plymouth would be booming. New shopping centre, but not exactly the most desirable city in the UK!
Maybe it's the overspill from the South Hams

House prices in plymouth seem to be up 9% over the last year according to Home.co.uk (LR graphs). Crazy!

The only thing I can think of is wether or not properties are ramping up because of the high cost of property in the rest of Devon.I would say that next to Exeter,Plymouth is going to be the easiest place to find work.I work for a company some 250 miles from Plymouth to get a decent income.I am able to work a lot from home.

My wife,who like me is from the south east,works for a local company and frankly the pay is a joke.I am fortunate to own my property here but I really do not know how people can get a foot on the market who ``enjoy`` local wages.

In the Hearld today

"House Prices Up By 25%" WTF!!!

http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/displayNod...tentPK=16342154

Any plymothians who could give me further details on this please or full article

Can`t think that they are up that much.Think that mine is up 10 to 15% over last year.

I am on the north cornish coast, property doesn't appear to be shifting that fast. A friend of mine in the building industry has had no work since before christmas, the company he works for have stoppped building because they cant sell any of the houses. Anyone noticed the same scenario elsewhere?

I have been living in gibraltar for the last few years and have returned to plymouth recently. Were watching house on the market that was on at £225k this time last year and was then taken of - contacted the guy recently and made an offer of £235k - very reasonable i thought probably about £5k under what it is worth looking at the last price it sold at and using the natiowide hp calculator. Any way he didnt accept andit h as just gone on the market today at £280k !!! http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-748...=1&tr_t=buy unbelievavble if this sells at this money i give up.

that being said the market seems to have gone quiet in the last couple of weeks with very little selling - roll on the 10th of may

Absolutely. I'm in Newquay and developers have been making serious money for a few years by knocking down hotels and converting them into "luxury" (I think that word is now a legal requirement) flats.

One of the most recent, most acquisitive, and apparently most skint is Penpol Group. They have knocked down a lot of hotels but don't seem to have the readies to build on the sites because they're not selling their early developments.

Still, if you fancy buying a hole in the ground give them a call, they have lots available!

this article in the herald (VI paper) on saturday 16 june . written by EAs and mortgage arangers (VIs) saying that the market has gone up about 6% this year so far (which is true) and reasuuring the sheeple that interest rates are still historically low (maybe if you dont need a 200k mortgage on 20k a year). However there is a general admission that the market has slowed up drastically over the last few weeks (true) and I found the general underlying tone of the article refreshingly bearish comming from VIs. Could be a ressurance to what is happening on your patch..

http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/displayNod...tentPK=17577712

counting the days to MOM falls

Keep the faith
IB

Where in Plymouth has seen the most rapid increase in HPI and which areas do you think are lagging behind the rest?

/

read the article i guess

Except I was asking for the boards opinion rather than that of 2 or 3 estate agents in the article with a vested interest in touting certain areas.

I'll answer my question to get the ball rolling. My feel is that the Hoe, the Barbican, in fact PL1 post codes in general have seen some of the fastest HPI. I'd also agree with the article that former council houses in Southway and Whitleigh have seen some significant increase but widen the net to say that this is council houses across the city, not just in these areas. As for where is lagging behind the rest this is a tricky one that I wouldn't hazzard a guess.

So once again, Where in Plymouth has seen the most rapid increase in HPI and which areas do YOU think are lagging behind the rest?

plymouth stuff is still shifting though a bit slower and asking prices have been on a plateau for the last couple of months - any other plymothians care to comment

dare i say it - i think it has now turned - had a previous offer of 250 on a 275 asking accepted the other day (offer made in june - initially hardlined for 270) - i have walked away as seeing some decent reductions on other stuff i have been watching - any other plymothians care to comment

this weeks homeseeker i have not seen so many "new price" "reduced" "quick sale" ever - even more than q4 04 q1 05 - good times ahead me thinks

green army!!

You could well be right there, I was in Barnstaple yesterday, A load of new build apartments had been put up by the river. Just to be nosy, I went and had a look, pokey to say the least, anyway, got chatting to the agent she said activity and interest had been dead for about a month. But they were still sticking at asking price of 209K for a 2 bed rabbit hutch, no garden, no garage. The caretaking fees were £900 per yr and ground rent £250. The penthouses on 4th floor were sold for £300k last year, the ones that are still being built or very near to completion have a tag of £400k now, utter lunacy!

Another scenario, a friends mother has had her house on the market for ages,its near Bude, asking price £220k, she found a buyer, then starting jibbing about, she lost the buyer. She has had it valued by another agent, he advised her to take it off the market til the spring then put it back on with an extra £30k slapped on!

It looks like there are differences at the moment between the Devon/Cornwall borders. Working on the notion that the last place to rise in value is the first place to fall in a crash, can you remember which of the 2 counties rose first?

defiately signs of a downturn now - a prop that was on my wish list that seemed good value (relatively) at 325k has just been chopped to 299k - will i buy? not just yet - i think ill give it a few months to see if the market starts moving again in early spring - hpc is shaping up nicely in muff. will be watching RICS figs like a hawk...

keep the faith

ib

IB how much do you think prices have "Dropped" since you started looking ? In percentage terms.

i have been looking since i STRed in the minicrash of Q1 05 so prices have gone up 15% i real terms since then but I would say that they have dropped about 3% in real terms from their Q2 07 peak - the only ones that are selling now are those that are making sizeable reductions. For most of the market there is a standoff between buyers and sellers with about a 5-10% gulf between what is being asked and what is prepared to be paid - this gap is widening daily. I expect to see some marked falls in the spring - its startred already, just look at this weeks homeseeker - it looks like a supermarket flyer with all those new price tags.

keep the faith

IB

We rented for 6 months while getting rid of a house in Northampton and prices semmed fairly static during that period. There are far more unsold properties now than there was 8-9 months ago . But....They are also asking about 8-10% more than they were 8-9 months ago hence why they are still for sale. I looked at a bungalow in dunstone road plymstock which had a crappy garage which needed knocking down, a shaded garden and a had a tacky refurb half done inside and they were asking £300,000. Absolute piss takers. However the little niche market places that are desirable are still selling like hot cakes.

this one perchance - if so then i viewed it as well

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-161...=1&tr_t=buy

cheeky bastards have got in the fulfords SALE as reduced from 350k!!! even though it was 289k when i looked

the owners are a couple of pikeys looking for a quick profit

funnily enough this doesnt appear on http://www.houseprices.co.uk/ een though they have only been there a couple of years

i left thinking it should be 250k - no more

Ha Ha just looked it up and was about to post the very same link. Yes that is the one. When we moved down here just over a year ago we rented just up the road from there. That place was originally on the market for about £350000 was £289000 and is now £295000 . I left the viewing thinking "Not a cat in hell's chance it's a mess" Didn't even take the missus for a look round and we could have walked there in 2 minutes.
Those type of properties are defo stagnant and pushing up the local prices. Houses as we all know will only get what someone will pay for them and the niche properties are still not sticking around for very long.

what is your call on HPs in plymouth since northern rock?? up/ static/ down

I'd say too early to make any significant impact and it's also entering the time of year when people are not prepared to move house. I feel that if you own in somewhere like St Judes or Efford then the value of your house will slowly erode as new houses are built. It will be interesting to see what happens when the Sherford development comes online.
Overheard a contractor yesterday saying there are 200 houses going up by the crossroads garage in Staddy and by his own admission they will be cramped with mega parking problems ! As soon as people stop paying silly asking prices then everything will settle down and level off at the price a property is actually worth.
The only thing I can see that would have a significant affect on the HPI in town is if the Navy reduce their commitment to PLY. If not, most of PLY and the surrounding area is actually in growth, quite well balanced and actually, geographically a good area to live in without a lot of the problems faced by other more central cities so the demand for good property will always be there and consequently the prices will always remain static or steady controlled growth.
Putting it into perspective you can hardly attract employees to cities like Leicester,Coventry,Northampton,Luton as they are simply not nice places to live and I don't hear many people down here who wish to relocate away from here.
As for current changes I think that nothing will really change until early spring time. By then all this kerfuffle will be forgotten about and those who are waiting out will have twitchy feet about being off the market so long and start snapping up properties. It's all about common sense. Do you honestly think that if they convert some dross old block into 100 flats then they will all be worth a fortune on completion? If you do, I'll happily act as a comission based purchaser for you. Do you think a large,tidy,quiet,well built property somewhere like Hartley will hold and increse in value as time goes on ? Seems an easy enough choice to me.

good synopsis, i agree that pretty much with what you say

i live in staddy at the momment and that new estate will be a chav hell hole, streets full of blue imprezas and the usual kids with cans of cider on a friday night (sherford will be daddy staddy)

i am also in the navy and will say from what i am hearing that there will be no significant draw down on personnel levels - though they are working the ships harder than ever with less refits so the dockyard may slowly fade.

plymouth is a great place to live compared to the other cities that you mention (persil effect) but the pay is poor and i think there will be a big drop in 2nd homers comming to plymouth as HPs generally fall throughout the country and the locals certainly cant afford em.

the snake is starting to throw up some vaue compared to q2 07 prices which will only get better as the chavs need to clear their plastic after christmas - that is when the fireworks will really start - i think we have only seen the start of this kerfuffle (credit crunch) and think the Boe will find it hard to cut IRs much in the face of above target inflation - if they dont start to tumble by april then they never will and i will buy

happy xmas

ib

ollie is a hypocrite

"that is when the fireworks will really start - i think we have only seen the start of this kerfuffle (credit crunch) and think the Boe will find it hard to cut IRs much in the face of above target inflation - if they dont start to tumble by april then they never will and i will buy"

And therein lies the problem. It will be about that time that most will start to lose their nerve. The housing market will pick up again and the cycle will continue pushing houses up to silly prices. Rise in inflation, no cut to I/R ,everybody has less cash in their pockets. stop spending. Inflation drops etc,etc,etc repeat to fade.

I too work indirectly for the Navy down here and think they will be here for a long old time.

Happy Days and go make a silly offer on that cacky bungalow in Dunstone road, see what the Pikeys say.

AM

I`m on the other side of the city,Stoke.Things have been unbelievable in terms of HPI.A terrace in the mid 90s slumped to around 30k.You would be very hard pushed to find one advertised for under £130 to 140k,a rise of over 400%!!!!!!!!!Not much better in Ford or Keyham.It`s only when you move further out to the Swilly that there are houses closer £100k but Ireally would not like to live there.

It does amze me who is affording to buy here as the wages are pretty poor.Thankfully,I don`t have to rely on the pay here at the moment being self employed and working around the country.

Our company amongst others I know are having to bring wages up in line with national averages due to the regeneration of PLY and the subsequent massive rise in HPI. I wouldn't like to be a first time buyer right now . But then I was also permenantly skint when I bought my first house.