Forum Topic

I thought the housing market was supposed to be slowing down...

But there are at least four houses for sale in Goldsmith Avenue alone at around £1.5 MILLION. Each!Seems lunatic to me. Who can possibly afford that for a semi in Acton?Weren't we told that the bubble has burst, the froth has flattened or whatever the current metaphor is for the gilt coming off the gingerbread?

Sara Nathan ● 4326d29 Comments

We have a toe in the market at the moment and it seems nobody told the agents the market has slowed.I think they are more confused than everyone else - they don't want to think the bubble has burst so they are continuing on as before, which is causing some problems.They are all trying to find the market price so are trying it on. You can put your house on the market for £1.5m but selling it for £1.5m is another thing altogether.

Allan Kelly ● 4326d

Interesting.Your last point is of course true - but holds equally at any level of the market - unless it's possible to see a growing disparity between asking and selling prices - and I haven't seen anything about that arising recently.

Sara Nathan ● 4326d

This is a rather useful website:http://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices.htmlPut your postcode in and see what houses have actually sold for over the past few months/years. Like cleaning windows, great for nosey parkers!

Susan Kelly ● 4326d

4-bed, semi-detached, £1,450,000 in July!Golly.

Sara Nathan ● 4326d

There was one in Avenue Gardens that went for more than that earlier in the month though it was a 5 bed semi-d.http://www.actonw3.com/default.asp?section=property&page=price1407.htm

Andy Jones ● 4326d

And that's not even particularly near Crossrail.There was a flat - OK 3-bed - over the road which went for between £6-700,000 in July too.That's up there with West Hampstead prices

Sara Nathan ● 4326d

Everywhere in Acton is near Crossrail if you take into account the interchange with the West London line and Old Oak. This makes the Acton price rises a little less irrational than the rest of London.

Andy Jones ● 4326d

These exorbitantly high house prices are useless, unless you're about to retire and have a four bed London house for sale and you want to move to a smaller retirement pad in deepest Lincs or sunny Norfolk. Any comments?

Gerry Tan ● 4326d

So it seems the estate agents are not delusional, after all, and that 1.5m is a reasonable asking price for houses in Goldsmith Ave.

Susan Kelly ● 4326d

Quite, and I know two people in my street who've done this in the last couple of months. Actonions have yearned for gentrification of the area for decades in the hope that we would no longer be treated as a less desirable place to live than our neighbouring postcodes - looks like we're getting the property prices that our aspirations have always implied.

Vlod Barchuk ● 4326d

Gerry is completely right.  Unless you're cashing in, downsizing or whatever, these ridiculously high prices are meaningless and the only benefit is to (a) the Government - higher stamp duty and (b) estate agents - more commission.  My kids will never be able to afford to buy even a flat in Acton. And remember that just because you live in a house that's "worth" £1.5m, it doesn't mean you own that much money. Does anyone remember the South Sea Bubble?

Anne Brown ● 4326d

What we have found round here is that long-term residents - especially if either freelance or getting on a bit, are selling now for a small fortune and moving to South Ealing or Greenford - consequently banking c£1 million. Which cushions retirement nicely but means the breadth of our neighbours is narrowing rather: who can afford to buy apart from hedge funds, bankers and investors living in Shanghai? (just 3 recent examples)_

Sara Nathan ● 4326d

I think when the dust has settled Acton may have gained something from Crossrail and also lost something.Depressingly, I have noticed that Acton Estate Agents are now marketing houses as potential "investment opportunities" That means getting buyers with no interest in the community - who are seeing their purchase as for financial benefit.And that is a real shame - given how successful Acton community-life and identity has been.

Richard Grange ● 4326d

So agree!Really don't want to be an "investment opportunity". So bad for community. Permanence works!

Sara Nathan ● 4326d

Our house is on the market. We plan to downsize and stay in Acton. The majority of people viewing have been 'investors' looking to invest near Crossrail!

Sandra Jordan ● 4325d

Good luck Sandra. We put our house on the market in April and got the full asking price within 48hrs. After 40 years in Ealing we downsized and now thanks to London prices live on the South Coast on the seafront. Oh, if you need a removal company use Golds of Acton. They are excellent.

David P Archer ● 4325d

"...We put our house on the market in April and got the full asking price within 48hrs..."You're fortunate David - I'm sorry for the young couples starting their lives together, unless they go to 'Mum and Dad's Bank', 'cos there's no way they'll afford even a small house these days. The South Coast is great especially a seafront one - good luck.

Gerry Tan ● 4325d

It is exactly that - good fortune. And you can't blame anyone for that. I bet when David bought his house he would never have even dreamed what it would be worth one day.But you are also right that the boom has seriously bad affects - especially for the young. It is simply crazy when you start allowing housing to become just another commodity - to be traded like pork-bellies.A small number of people get rich as Croesus. But the cost is young people being priced out of the market, sometimes family dislocation, and increasingly a capital that is danger of being starved of key workers who simply can't afford to live here.

Richard Grange ● 4325d

Yes, I live up in North Acton with my partner, in a 1 bed flat (which we only own half of!). I love Acton - we moved to London a few years ago, after I'd commuted up from Brighton for 4 years. And my firm have recently moved out of H&F to Acton, so I now live and work (and play!) in the borough.We would love to start a family and stay here in Acton, but sadly we'll have to move when/if we have kids, the way prices are at the moment :( wages - even with London weighting - just can't touch the house prices.

Elly Belpassi ● 4320d

Such a pity...unless you are a key worker - I'm not sure how these are defined beyond nurses and teachers but you'd think all sorts of people might be. even then, there's not much around.

Sara Nathan ● 4320d

Firefighters, Social workers, Police officers. What will we do when there are no nurses, teachers, police and firefighters left in London because they can't afford to live here?

Susan Kelly ● 4320d

The government likes high house prices as it gives people the illusion of being rich and more likely to spend spend spend. This is an illusion as you will only free up that money if you downsize as Gerry rightly point out.It also encourages investors.What makes me sick is the number of developments that are built for investors that go on the market at property fairs in Hong Kong before being offered for sale here despite Boris and his mates saying he will stop the practise. With an acute housing crisis, shortage of land for development and families begging for simple family homes, not luxury flats, what are they thinking of?Stupid question we know they only listen to money talk. It is our children who will be at the mercy of these foreign investors, who will maximise the return on their investment by charging as much rent as they can. What is the bet that when the Friary estate is redeveloped into luxury flats they go on the market abroad, before here?

Kim Rugg ● 4319d

If you want to look at how Acton is being marketed (sold-off?) to investors in the Far East - have a look at this from a Singaporean property blogger.http://walkingproperty.com/2014/06/revealed-my-shortlist-of-the-best-value-for-money-areas-to-buy-in-london/Or this which although slightly more out of date - which was a report of buyer interest in the Napier developmenthttp://www.propertywire.com/news/europe/london-property-sinaporeans-rentals-201212067218.htmlThis is what a free market looks like - red in tooth and claw. But it is happening at the same time as key workers can't afford housing and - some  Acton-families on the breadline are being made homeless.So make of that what you will.

Richard Grange ● 4319d

Isnt Catalyst Housing a not-for-profit housing association rather than a conventional developer? Their website says they are committed to rehousing current residents and to maintaining a healthy amount of social housing.Or am I being naive?

Sara Nathan ● 4319d

Don't know. But the following press release shows they are definitely in the market for building flats for private renthttp://www.chg.org.uk/news/16777/more-choice-for-londoners-as-catalyst-housing-moves-into-the-private-rented-market/

Richard Grange ● 4319d

I went to the planning show thing for the redevelopment of the CarPhone Warehouse site in North Acton. They kept saying some of it would be 'affordable' housing...but couldn't tell me what sort of price bracket it would fall in if it were on sale today. And given so much 'affordable' housing really isn't, I'm not holding my breath!

Elly Belpassi ● 4317d

It's probably time they came up with a new term for housing that key workers can buy because it's all 'affordable', given that someone buys it.

Susan Kelly ● 4317d

The term "Affordable Housing" refers specifically to rented housing and is defined by the government as:"Affordable rented housing is let by local authorities or private registered providers of social housing to households who are eligible for social rented housing. Affordable Rent is subject to rent controls that require a rent of no more than 80 per cent of the local market rent (including service charges, where applicable)."It has nothing to do with housing people can afford to buy with a mortgage.

Peter Millman ● 4317d

Also "key worker" housing is different again - but I am not sure how that is managed

Sara Nathan ● 4317d