This is a bit of a controversial one as nobody has a crystal ball but do people see a correction or dip in the housing market anytime in the next couple of years?
We’ve been persistent renters, mainly because we love the flexibility and lack of financial responsibility for repairs/maintenance. Living in London for much of our lives buying property was out of reach unless we wanted a 3 hour round-trip commute to zone 7 or something.
I know a lot of people see it as dead money and in the long term, of course buying makes sense, but between agents fees, stamp duty, legal costs, interest and any repairs/maintenance, renting and saving/investing has always suited us.
However, given that we very much don’t want to be paying rent into retirement, we’ve been reluctantly trying to get on the ladder. Which frankly has been about as fun as poking sticks in my eyes. ‘Sorry sir I know that property only just came to market but we’ve got 20 viewings booked already and 5 offers above asking price from people who haven’t even seen it’…
We very nearly bought a place, until an electrical survey turned up thousands of pounds of urgent work that the Sellers refused to factor into a reduction. Why would they? There was probably 10 potential buyers waiting to jump on it.
We’re now thinking of waiting a year to see what happens. Continue to rent, save, and revisit in 2023. However this is a risk as if the market continues to rocket, we may not be able to save at a rate to keep up. We only have a relatively small deposit.
So, crystal balls at the ready… do we see prices levelling/dipping due to cost of living and massive interest rate rises? Or will the market continue to soar upwards?
I know the press/‘experts’ are predicting a correction but it’s hard to get objective opinions when there’s likely a vested interest in one direction or the other.