MattW

Quite a few properties in my area for less than £200k have gone on the market in the last 48 hours. Pretty sure the housing market has now peaked.

Yikes!

Inventories seem to be increasing - but I haven't seen very much in the way of asking prices coming down.

That's how it should be. From memory, BTL were defaulting on their mortgages after the credit crunch, making innocent tenants homeless. Oh, happy days.

I'm currently inbetween jobs. This might work in my favour.

Seems like a stark contrast between social rents and private rents in my area. Say around £400 for a 2 bedroomed council house (that I'm not entitled to) and then more than twice that for a privately rented house of a similar size (that is difficult to afford). There is no happy medium for lower wage earners aside from house shares. I see a few ex-BTL homes up for sale with sitting tenants but they are not selling quickly.

My rent went up 4.1% to £327 a month in April. I'm having no issues paying. The real scandal is how much private rents have soared recently.

I voted + 0.25% but as per last time, I hope I'm wrong and it goes +0.5%.

Maybe not that fantastic but here's a 7.4% drop in Norwich. This flat is for 'cash buyers only' for some reason. 2nd floor 2 bedroom flat, 110 years left on lease, £125k

Agreed. I keep an eye on private rents in my home city and my non scientific observation is that they have fallen back a little bit to around £750 a month for a decent 2 bedroomed house. 3 bedrooms if you're lucky.

Most reduced properties. Up to 50% off. Fill yer boots!

It shouldn't be marketed as 3 bedder with the small bedroom like that! That's just a walk in cupboard as far as I'm concerned. Developer could have at least plastered the walls.

Doesn't look as bad as I thought it was going to be. I was expecting a missing first floor and pipes!

How can these empty or under-utilised properties be brought back into regular use?

I understand high taxes are forcing a lot of people out of California. Residents will resent paying those taxes if there are still homeless camped out in tents and using the streets as a privy. However, at least that means some homes will be freed up.