Now this is just my humble opinion, so bear that in mind when reading.
To me, there is no better time to consider buying property than now. Even if you’re selling then buying, what you lose one way, you make up the other.
There is some great value for money in the property market place at the moment as far as I’m concerned. There’s no hocus pocus, it’s just basic supply and demand as I’ll explain.
During the property boom of a few years ago, there was a shortage of property. This essentially meant that people were paying a premium to buy a house.
A bit like if something is a collector’s item, it’s rare so you pay more… Now it’s pretty much the opposite, there is plenty of stock available which is like going to the shops and seeing things on clearance, you get to pay less because there’s plenty to choose from. The buyer is in the powerful position which means they can negotiate, haggle and ultimately get a really good deal (hopefully).
To me there are still some underlying issues for society to sort out before the property market really get moving positively again.
There are some strange priorities with money these days which ultimately affects housing affordability for those individuals. The need for newer cars instead of older ones, the car, boat, bike and holiday loans, the credit cards and interest free plans, never mind colossal mobile and internet bills. All of these financial commitments place a far higher burden on people’s incomes than mortgage or rent commitments. This isn’t acceptable to most but I believe it to be true.
I’m going to sound like an old man here but… Go back a generation and all people had were mortgage payments. For everything else they saved, fixed or did without. The ratio between incomes and home loan payments has always been about the same, it’s just these days there is a lot more income going towards other priorities first.
In the end we can complicate or simplify the data as much as we like. Each individuals money priorities differ but the same truths behind it are prevalent.
What is important to you is up to you, but you can’t have everything, some sacrifice somewhere has to be made. Like it or not.