WHAT’S THE PROPERTY MARKET LIKE IN BTC NOW? Post Reply

[Wolffie]

My partner and I are thinking about returning to SW11 6 and looking to purchase at a 4 or 5 bed house either close to the Common or close to a good local primary. Could anyone kindly provide us an insight into how the property market around SW11 6 is currently like please? 

Are there many new opportunities coming up and is the house going fast? We find it difficult to get a true picture of whether house price is increasing or falling by browsing online and any local insight would be very helpful and greatly appreciated. 

Thank you. 

[boonkoh]

Not quite BTC (depends on your definition) but in the Nightingale Triangle, very close to Nightingale Lane though.

My neighbour on my road just put a 5.5 bedroom property on the market at the end of September - over 200sqm - £1.6m - and I saw within 2 weeks its gone SSTC!

Also it looks like lots of 4/5 bedroom properties, in the £1.2m to £1.5m range, seem to go quickly on Rightmove after listing. The ones that are struggling at the smaller ones, £1m-£1.2m that are 3 to 3.5ish bedrooms, or the super expensive ones humongous houses £1.8m+ that are taking time to sell.

There are house price stats but only aggregated on a postcode (e.g. SW11, SW12) level, so difficult to say whether things are going up or down. And I suspect the property type will make a difference too - probably 3/4 bedroom "flats" for sharers, likely doing poorly. But 3-4 bedroom houses, with a good size garden and a room for working from home, maybe an office shed in the garden, must be flying off the shelves.

[Lepresidente]

The market has collapsed and those houses that were “under offer”.. many have fallen through due to bank undervaluations or buyers undercutting at the last moment . It’s very much a buyers market now ( I speak to the estate agents daily - we are a chain free buyer in the area).

House prices are already falling and that is now being directly reflected in asking prices ( which were artificially high after Covid - nobody was paying asking price ) . Recent example is a beautiful house in battersea , was on at £1.7m but now asking £1.5m... another example was a house on grandison road .. was on for £1.63m but reduced to less than the vendors paid 4 years ago at £1.595m but doubt it sold for asking ( they were desperate to sell). Estate agents will tell you it’s ok /fine but reality is SW11 housing market is facing a 10-20% price correction over the next 12 months. Too much supply and not enough demand.

Drivers are people moving out of London seeking space and greeny . Banks are undervaluing properties significantly to protect their LTVs and balance sheets . The storm of defaults is coming , unlikely to be SW11 but lenders are exposed across the UK. Furthermore SW11 ain’t so lovely anymore , the crime wave continues unfortunately which drives desire to leave London .

Our friend was car jacked with her kids recently ( two guys on mopeds) , and our friends car was stolen .

Furthermore crossrail 2 is devaluing properties on the route and the 2nd proposed route( that being under the Bolingbroke /Hillier/montholme/gayville) via Balham . These houses under the 2nd proposed route face significant devaluation and it’s happening already . 2 houses i know of have been on and off offer several times because the surveys flag up cross rail 2 plans under these houses . Beautiful houses but significantly putting off buyers and buyers don’t like uncertainty . I should say the 2nd route under these roads hasn’t been safeguarded yet but does flag up on a survey. Should it concern people , something that may or may not happen in 20 yrs .. clearly it does ... people don’t want to inherit the problem when they can buy an equivalent house for cheaper in the area. There are plenty of Victorian houses not under the 2nd proposed route.

Sorry to sound so negative , clearly in my interest given my circumstances but the reality . Prices in the area have been so inflated for years , and you can buy the equivalent in Chelsea/Fulham .. why choose a northcote ? I say that being a buyer in the area but not at these inflated prices and vendors currently need to be realistic in their asking prices ( which is now starting to occur )

Sorry for dragging on ! Good luck !

[SW11er]

I still think NappyValley stacks up well against Fulham/Chelsea in terms of price and green spaces. I think those areas will fall first.