Nottinghamshire house hunters say it’s ‘never been more difficult’ to buy a new home

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House hunters in Nottinghamshire say they feel it’s “never been more difficult” to buy a home. Those selling their home say they have been taken off the market very quickly, as multiple offers have come in from people looking to move or get themselves on the property ladder.

It comes as consumers’ confidence that now is a good time to buy a home has slumped to its lowest level since at least 2008, as households expect to make significant sacrifices to cope with surging living costs, according to building societies. Less than a fifth (18%) of people think now is a good time to buy a property, its latest tracker survey found. This is the lowest figure since the report started in June 2008. Back then, 27% thought it was a good time to buy a home. The previous low point was in December 2018, when 19% were confident it was a good time to buy a property.

One man, who put his house in Bakersfield on the market recently, said that he feels it’s a very competitive market. “We were lucky to find somewhere we wanted to live pretty quickly,” he said. “It’s a bit of a project so we’ve been getting it ready at our own pace. Then, when we put our house on the market, we had offers pretty much straight-away.

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“I have friends who have been looking for months and have got absolutely nowhere. Places you like are put on the market and then gone the next day. I don’t think it’s ever been more difficult to buy a house. Because so many people are looking, there are less opportunities. It’s good news for people like us, who are selling.”

According to the Barclays First Time Buyer Index, the number of first time buyers has doubled in the past year. It also suggests 73% of people wish they’d started saving sooner and 64% worry they will never be able to afford to get on the property ladder Taj Singh, 57, has just sold his home near Carlton. He told Nottinghamshire Live : “It was pretty straight forward for us, we had a lot of interest in the house when we put it up for sale. It’s not so hard for us because we’re not first time buyers. We’ve been here for around 15 years.”

Meanwhile another woman, who had just sold her house in Nottingham and was moving out of the area, She said: “We’re actually moving next week, so it’s been really busy trying to get everything sorted. I think because our house was more at the higher end of the market, it did take us a little bit more time to sell. There’s also quite an unusual layout to the house. But there was plenty of interest, that’s for sure. I’m not sure what it’s like trying to buy around here as we are actually moving away.”

Experts say the current rising cost of living costs is making things even more difficult for those looking to buy a home, with people having to dip into their savings to help pay their bills. The rate of inflation is expected to increase to around 8% in the coming months – perhaps even hitting double digits.

Paul Broadhead, head of mortgage and housing policy at the BSA, said: “Price growth at the current pace is clearly unsustainable and a much higher volume of new build and resale homes coming to market is needed to change this dynamic. Whilst lenders expect some flattening of new mortgage demand as the year progresses, we anticipate that the re-mortgage market will remain buoyant.”

He added: “During the pandemic, overall savings balances increased by almost £300 billion, so it is not surprising that some people are now planning to use this buffer to help cover their increased costs. The growth in savings balances was not however evenly distributed, and there are many households who struggled financially during the pandemic.”

The government has recently launched its First Home scheme, meaning some eligible first time buyers may be able buy a property for 30% to 50% less than the market value.



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