It's a tricky situation because we want to move house this year and will need to spend a sizeable amount above our current property value to get the sort of thing we want (probably around £200-250k extra). If there were to be a price crash then the differential between our current and future home would probably shrink down to say £150k. For us despite having more equity than most people (mortgage free) a price correction would be brilliant news as it would mean a smaller mortgage required for the same jump up the ladder. On the flip side interest rates are very low so it is easy to extend yourselves as adding say an extra £100k on a mortgage doesn't really impact on affordability in the way it used to.
Personally given current wages I think aside from specific areas, prices in general will have to start to plateau especially when another recession hits, but the likelihood of that having happened sooner was reduced by the incredibly cheap credit on offer (low mortgage rates, steady rise in LTV on offer, plus various government schemes etc) meaning that FTB are not priced out of the market in the way they should be.
For those worried about potential losses from a crash it is worth considering that even those who bought at the peak of the previous boom (2007) will probably have still made money on their property based on current prices, assuming they didn't have an expensive fixed mortgage product (even if they did, some areas will have boomed enough to compensate). Less effective than perhaps buying in say early 2009 but over the medium term, not a disaster. Unlike some goods, housing/land is a commodity that will always be in demand so the chance of there being a permanent fall in prices seems low so long as population continues to expand.
Personally given current wages I think aside from specific areas, prices in general will have to start to plateau especially when another recession hits, but the likelihood of that having happened sooner was reduced by the incredibly cheap credit on offer (low mortgage rates, steady rise in LTV on offer, plus various government schemes etc) meaning that FTB are not priced out of the market in the way they should be.
For those worried about potential losses from a crash it is worth considering that even those who bought at the peak of the previous boom (2007) will probably have still made money on their property based on current prices, assuming they didn't have an expensive fixed mortgage product (even if they did, some areas will have boomed enough to compensate). Less effective than perhaps buying in say early 2009 but over the medium term, not a disaster. Unlike some goods, housing/land is a commodity that will always be in demand so the chance of there being a permanent fall in prices seems low so long as population continues to expand.