Haywards Heath - Interesting Check Point

[micawber]

I keep an eye on old areas we have previously lived in. Just today I saw a 'flat' come up that was identical (same block) to our first ever home. This gave the opportunity to track prices right back to the 80's - pre reported Registry data.

My wife and I bought it in 1988 for 52,000. I remember it being a monumental struggle requiring a 2nd (additional) mortgage and the payment of a hefty Indemnity Insurance Premium for a high LTV mortgage. We lived on beans on toast for quite a while! We got jobs up north a year later and sold in 1989 for 58,000 - a stupid gain because of the withdrawal of MIRAS.

From the listing you can see how prices plummeted during that HPC - from 58,000 in 1989 to 25,000 in 1995 (and probably lower in 1990-1992). So really hard declines are possible and likely - they have happened before.

And today? 190K for a 1 bed starter home is outrageous - just as it was in 1988 when interest rates were more like 5/6/7%! I expect to see this go back to 80K by the time the dust settles. But as a home - my wife still considers it the best we ever had.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-63772044.html

[Flopsy]

I see it is now "STC". My guess is that someone downsizing who needs to live on one level bought it maybe.

Obviously not really sold until it appears in Land Registry with the price but could there be a shortage of bungalows in that area?