PROPERTY prices rose by more than 10 per cent over the past 12 months, pushed
up by desperate buyers chasing a limited number of homes for sale. That, at
least, is the reality according to the latest figures from the Halifax.
Unfortunately for Kevin and Maureen Martin, none of those hungry buyers turned
up at their door. Their five-bedroom detached house in Coventry may be on a
pretty tree-lined road near the city centre, good schools and a railway link
to London, but the property has languished on the shelf for more than six
months. A change of estate agent and a £100,000 drop in the asking price to
£799,950 in May brought one viewing and no offers. For the Martins, this is
hardly what you would call a sellers’ market. Top-end Central London prices
might well be stoked by wealthy Russians taking advantage of tax breaks, but
this is hardly the reality across the country, where buyers are constrained
by rising interest rates and onerous stamp duty.
“When we decided to drop the price we thought that would have a significant
effect, but it hasn’t,” said Kevin Martin, a solicitor and former president
of the Law Society. “The market has been much quieter than we anticipated. I
see a lot of ‘For Sale’ signs around the area, but not many ‘Sold’. There
seems to be a shortage of people willing and able to proceed in this sort of
price range.”
A closer look at the Halifax figures shows that the increasing cost of
borrowing is beginning to bite in the West Midlands, where prices fell by
just over 1 per cent between April and June after an 81 per cent rise in the
past five years. The lender recorded a recent fall in prices in the South
West and Wales, where prices had been soaring since 2002. The slowing market
has driven a wedge between north and south. Prices in Greater London, the
South East, East Anglia and the South West grew by 10 per cent or more over
the last year, but other regions were more subdued. Broadly speaking,
Southerners now pay an average £103,451 more for their homes than those
living in the North and Midlands.
Figures such as these are still vastly oversimplified. The slower the market,
the more fragmented it becomes. Rising prices hide a multitude of sins. But
when prospects are less rosy, buyers become even choosier. A study by
Savills notes that country homes in Hertfordshire carry a 25 per cent
premium over similar properties in neighbouring Bedfordshire. “In the South
East you see strong demand along commuter routes into London,” said Lucian
Cook, director of research at Savills. “There are a lot of people coming out
of the capital with high levels of equity who are less constrained by
interest rate rises. But even in similar locations you see differences in
prices depending on the address. Bedfordshire has the transport links and is
just as commutable, but has much lower values compared with its neighbours.”
According to the Land Registry, only ten houses were sold for more than £1
million in Bedfordshire last year compared with 247 in Hertfordshire.
Savills is selling a five-bedroom 17th-century farmhouse in Leighton Buzzard
in Bedfordshire for £1.55 million, but the agent says the property might be
worth another £350,000 to £400,000 in Hertfordshire. “In some areas there
just aren’t that many buyers of prime property,” said Cook.
That is bad news for the Martins, who cannot change the fact that their home
is in Coventry. James Way, of Knight Frank in Stratford-upon-Avon, says:
“Buyers tend to favour more fashionable areas. They want to go where their
friends have gone. So we see a big difference in demand for homes in
fashionable areas such as Warwick, Stratford and Henley-in-Arden and those
in less fashionable addresses in Coventry.” Buyers with £800,000 or more to
spend in Warwickshire seek period homes in picturesque towns south of
Coventry and end up paying between 10 and 20 per cent more to get what they
want. But Way believes that they are missing a trick.
“Sellers in less fashionable areas must price their properties to reflect this
differential and attract buyers. But there is nothing wrong with Coventry or
the villages north of the city. People who are thinking about moving out of
London need to think about these areas.”
The Martins’ home is for sale through Shortland Horne, 02476 222123;
Savills, 01582 465002; and Knight Frank, 01789 297735
For more tips on how to get a quick sale on your property, go to: timesonline.co.uk/buyingandselling
This is a "unique" architect designed home and the details provided by at least one of the agents provide a generally more positive feel than the photograph from the rear suggest.
However, there are a number of specific issues:
i) Unique properties are often either loved or detested- no grey area between the two extremes
ii) It is three storey- so will appeal less to young families or older people.
iii) Some dated features amongst modern ones eg clad ceiling in kitchen
iv) There are a lot of apartments in this area and the average land registry price from the last 7 years is less than 200k.
john williams, London, UK
David,
I'm so sorry, I didn't realise I was bleating. It is, after all, totally unrealistic of me to have expected to have both children AND a property. What was I thinking?
I really shouldn't aspire beyond my station. God forbid that anyone without a proper "career" should be able to afford somewhere to live.
Helen, Harrogate, N Yorks,
The house next door looks much nicer and you can only see a tiny sliver of it. I'd guess the "true" value of that rather ugly brick box is £200K-£300K so if the Martins can get some mug to give them £500K or more now they should bite his hand off - current prices aren't going to hold up much longer.
Mark Parker, London, UK
£800k for a house in Coventry? Better to wait a couple of years by which time that £800k will probably get you the whole street...
Austin Allegro, London,
Price is way too high. Maybe when the market was booming you could have got away with this but now that the crash is under way, it is time for a reality check. I would seriously lower your expectations and not chase the market down waiting for an offer that will never come. Your property is not worth any where near what you're asking - people seem to have forgotten some fundamentals.
Monger, Manchester,
This just beggars belief!!!!... are these people on another planet??!!
Dave, Southport,
Oh, and another thing - the couple selling this house, admirable though they may be in all respects, I'm sure, look unnervingly like the Hamiltons. This is bound to put people off.
Martin Emery, Burnham on Sea , Somerset
And slowly the penny drops. A slow creeping thought enters the mind that perhaps house prices are overly inflated by unsustainable bubble mania. Perhaps the house isn't really worth £800,000 and perhaps the property market might stop to decline now that not only are first time buyers priced out but people only the lowest rung of the ladder cannot afford to move up.
It's just not fair is it. Those greedy priced out renters not willing to take on a lifetime of debt slavery to pay for a mortgage many times their combined wages to sustain a market which would allow you to get your 800K.
Skint Academic, Sandy, Bedfordshire
"Why can't we sell our home?"..............Way too much money for a run of the mill house in an unfashionable town!
Welcome to the fist property crash of the 21st Century.
Jim Smith, London, UK
It won't sell because its a fairly average house in a lousy place going for money which would buy a chateau in France.
Jamie, cockermouth, England
How much?? You've got to be stark raving mad to spend the rest of life shackled to a mortgage for that. Stop dreaming of getting a free ride and listen; It would be possible for a builder to buy a bit of land and build a similar house with the total expenditure coming to something like150K. if you've lived in that property since the 80s (which is quite probable) that is the kind of figure you would of paid for it. So where on earth did 800K come from? Greed.
Alan Yates, Bedford,
We will see more and more stories like this as the house price bubble bursts. It shows how unrealistic prices are outside of London.
Work out how much you could rent it for use a realsitic yield and this will give you somewhere near the value.
What a great estate agent comment. Come to Coventry and take a 70% pay cut and still pay ridiculous prices for houses.
david barker, chelmsford,
"How is it we have an interest rate policy that should apply to London and its immediate environs but affects the whole country where different conditions quite clearly apply."
err, that's because you can only have one interest rate for your whole currency. I'd refer you to a basic undergrad economics text book for a detailed explanation. Furthermore, the job of the central bank is to maintain economic stability, this does not necessarily tie in with maintaining house prices if other things, like inflation, trade-balance, currency appreciation/depreciation etc weigh more heavily. I suspect you're quite happy to hang on to the economic coattails of London via our common currency, but don't want the disadvantages?
Siiman, Loods, UK
Busts follows booms as night follows day. Gordon's miracle economics which have been based on a credit boom has ended. The speculative bubble is about to burst and these people will be lucky if they get out at all.
Reale Istbear, Warwick,
Drop the price to £550.000 now, if you get an offer, bite their hand off, you'll be lucky to get £400k in 18-24 months time
David, Bognor Regis,
The great property pyramid scheme of 1997 to 2007 is looking shaky. These schemes always collapse when people stop coming in at the bottom. Less than 10% of buyers are first time buyers, a historic low, when in previous decades it has been 35%.
I guess with interest rates rising and sellers in denial that price falls are possible, that figure ain't gonna rise soon is it?
Mark Graham, Belfast,
well join the rest of them trying to sell there homes.
luke, london,
£800 big ones for a completely bog standard detached house, with upstairs windows that look like machine gun slits? Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!!! Oh, and it's in COVENTRY???? Oh don't....... please.... my sides.... Anyone who hands over that kind of serious wedge for THAT is absolutely stark, staring, shove-two-pencils-up-my-nose-I'm-off- to-Hartlepool-to-buy-some-exploding-trousers, MAD!!!!!!!!!
Martin Emery, Burnham on Sea , Somerset
Coventry ?? Ugh !!
Erm, doesn't this just sound of too expensive for it's location ?? Try being more realistic.
Also, how much did the current buyers originally pay for this house and how long have they lived there ?? Are they being greedy ??
Jez E, East Sussex, UK
Why can't we sell our home?
Answer: you are asking too much money for it.
Andrew, Portsmouth,
Kaitin,
Are you saying it's 'worth' £480K ?
What is th average salary in the area?
Pete Balchin, Solicitor, Bristol, uk
"Why can’t we sell our home?" To be honest, the simple answer is that it isn't priced at a level that will sell. Maybe when this (dying) housing boom was at it's height you might have gotten away with picking a figure out of thin air, but now you need to rethink what people can actually afford to pay.
Jim Grant, Sheffield, South Yorks
The house is only worth £300-350K. They need a reality check - £800K in Coventry? Pull the other one.
peter kiddle, cambridge,
I guess the question the Martin's have to ask themselves is how many people who want to live in Cov can afford to pay £800K for a very average looking house.
I wonder if they could afford to buy it for that price...
Chris, Pottersville,
What a charming property, I would love to meet the Architect I am guessing he has a passion for Lutyens and this can be seen by the simply stunning UPVC Broom Cupboard attached to the rear elevation. He has really captured the Lutyens style by overiding the boring symmetry we see in most modern properties built today.
I am most suprised that he is not getting offers in excess of 800k, and would suggest he markets it himself on the new website hosted by that large foodstore company.
laurejon, Chichester, UK
There is only one reason in the world why a house won't sell within a reasonable period of time - say 3 months; YOU'RE ASKING TOO MUCH MONEY FOR IT!! And that is all there is to it.
Brad Naylor, Stockport,
Sickening. Unless your upsizing from another ridiculously overpriced house why would u pay that much, plus 32 grand to the gov in duty! Get real - u live in Cov. Even in Leamington spa and kenilworth/warwick it wouldnt be worth that much. Estate agent mugs pricing property up. I'm glad i sold my house and am renting so i can pounce when the market crashes.
bob, kenilworth, Uk
Wow - Helen. Pay a visit to the real world. Your decided on your career. You decided to have children. You had control over your life. Stop bleating about others who made better decisions than you did!
David, Horley,
My heart bleeds for these poor people who have had to drop their asking price to under £800,000! Thank you, Times for reminding me how utterly selfish my own problems are. After all, what is this country coming to if people can no longer make an obscene profit on their homes? Perhaps you should start an appeal for them. My husband and I could make a contribution out of what's left over after we have paid our rent, council tax, utility bills, food, clothed our children - oh, hang on, there isn't anything left, which is why we are not homeowners in any postcode, "fashionable" or otherwise.
Helen, Harrogate, N Yorks,
Mr & Mrs Martin,
Welcome to the property crash of 2007!
Michele, Richmond, UK
800000 for a detached house on a road in Coventry?
The world's gone mad.
GREED is driving this insane house market.Owners are pricing themseves out of sales, by asking totally unrealistic figures for boring, middle of the road housing.
You can buy a CASTLE in Europe for that sort of money.
Reality needs to bite here,some of these people are living in wonderland.
No wonder estate agents windows are bulging with property for sale.
Michael J Rigby, Chorley Lancashire, England
I don't think it is necessarily owners being greedy. Our experience is that estate agents often overvalue properties and this sets the owners' expectations. But yes, the market speaks for itself in the end.
Louise, Merseyside, UK
For that amount of money you'd expect a stone house or period house, similar to the one next door. Not a red brick. The picture has been carefully cropped so I'm guess there are red roof tiles as well. The conservatory looks more like a lean-to over the patio. Finally, the garden looks small and, in fact, it looks like the house was built as an infill between the neighbouring houses.
For that house? 400K Max. If not now, then certainly after the great house price decline, now kicking off and due to hurt in from 2008 onwards.
A dose of reality is needed in Coventry - and all over the UK. No point asking high London prices for a pretty average house in Coventry.
NickT, Aldershot,
Generally, there is only one reason why a house is not attracting a buyer - PRICE!
Richard, Surrey,
On a very similar note to the Martins, I tried to sell my Ford Fiesta the other day. It is in really good nik for 5 years old and it was on the forecourt for £29950. Didn't get a sniff all week. I wonder why?.........let me think.
Chris Fomes, TAUNTON, United Kingdom
Hahahaha. Serves them right for being so greedy in the first place. I do wonder how much they paid for this property and what sort of percentage return they think that they deserve.....
If you can just drop the price by £100.000 it was obviously vastly overpriced in the first place - as are most properties.
jo adams, builth wales, wales
Why can't they sell?
Surely it is obvious - it is overpriced.
The mind boggles as to why the owners fail to see this.
Perhaps they are blinded by greed as are so many in this nation of ours.
Wake up, smell the coffee and lower the price.
The over-inflated housing bubble is going to burst sooner or later along with an awful lot of egos.
Kevin, Hove, UK
From what I can see in the photo, I'm not surprised. £800K for a large brick box with charmless windows....... in Coventry...... with your neighbour less than 10 yards away....
Methinks some folks are getting a little carried away with what they think they can sell for.
Julia D, London,
£800 in Coventry i would expect a hotel, surely they are having a laugh here
Dave, London, UK
A similar position applies in Preston Lancashire. Our property put on the market in January remains unsold as we speak. Reduced from £595,000 to £545,000 no purchaser has yet been found.
How is it we have an interest rate policy that should apply to London and its immediate environs but affects the whole country where different conditions quite clearly apply.
Barry Woolley, Preston, Lancashire
How much did they pay for it? and when..? they are probably being greedy. Like 99.9% of sellers. Reduce it and reduce it then reduce it again till it sells. If its not the price then what is it? Its always the price. Go to Auction and then the true price will be discovered. That is what someone is prepared to pay. Easy really there is no rocket science here.
Dave Gallagher, St Albans, UK
Couldn't sell at 899k so dropped to 799k? Does 'STILL TOO GREEDY' mean anything? Suspect an over-eager estate agent over-valued to secure the instruction.
Mike, London,
A house is only worth what someone is prepared to pay for it
Liz, Wiltshire,
All things being equal i.e. there is nothing wrong with the property, then it's purely down to price, enfd of!
Obviously the market has spoken and £899k was kite flying. It appears that so is £799k. It is a value judgment but if you hold out for the market to get better history says you could be waiting some time. (look at all the fundinmental and global data flashing red!!) £750k to £699k today (if it can be achived) is better than £600k in a couple of years. If your turning it into cash and downsizing better get ahead of the game, rather than chasing what soon may become very difficult trading conditions.
The market will out!!!
Greg, poole, UK Dorset
A five-bedroom detached house in Coventry for £799,950???
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
Stephen Short, Derby,
I'm surprised that a solicitor and former president of the Law Society hasn't spotted to similarities between between what is beginning to happen in the property market now and what happened between the late 1980s and mid 1990s. I have seen numerous examples in the law reports of properties bought at the height of the 1980s boom for figures around the £800k mark, being sold in 1993 or 1994 for around £300k. Arguably the current property bubble is even bigger and so the bang will be even louder when it pops.
800k for Coventry is ridiculous on any sound economic measure (unless the property is some grand country home). Get out now at a reasonable (but much reduced price) and help the market back to sanity. Otherwise, the position in Tokyo over the last 17 years or so makes for sobering consideration.
Captain Sensible, Warwick, UK
Perhaps because it's overpriced by around 40% along with the rest of the country's homes following a ludicrous credit bubble, but you've been told it's all due to supply and demand, more single people living on their own etc?
Get real. And be prepared for a final sale price of around 600k.
Kaitain, Vancouver, Canada
Basic law of supply and demand. Their house is simply not worth £800k as no one is willing to pay that. For an "educated" man and former Law Society president you would think that Kevin Martin would have realised this by now.
Roy Masters, London,
The whole property market is just greed, greed, greed and nothing else and I hope it collapses entirely.
Fred, Dubai, Dubai
"Why can't we sell our home?"
Could it be too expensive?
Coventry. 800k.
I wouldn't buy it anyway...
Albert Hall, Blackburn, Lancashire,