‘Stop scaring people with house price crash predictions’, pundits warned

Property industry figure Russell Quirk’s latest video has slammed pundits who claim that the property market faces ‘Armageddon’ including drastic house price reductions.

Quirk name-checks Charlie Lamdin (pictured, below) and his fellow pundit Alex Groundwater as the most visible of the ‘doom mongers’ whose pessimistic view of the property market has led them to predict significant housing market corrections any time soon, saying yesterday’s Halifax house price index proves them wrong.

The lender revealed a 1.3% month-on-month rise in the average house price and a 2.5% year-on-year rise, which Quirk points out is not bad given the battering the economy has endured recently.

House price crash

“The doom mongers have constantly told us since 2014/15 that house prices will crash imminently but, I have been saying for some time, despite Brexit, the war in Ukraine, inflation, a Kwasi Kwarteng-inspired spike in interest rates and Covid, buyers are just ‘too resilient’ and the market fundamentals ‘too strong’ to witness a crash.

Quirk says a lack of supply, several Stamp Duty giveaways and ‘relatively’ low interest rates have helped keep estate agents busy.

Despite Quirk’s view that the housing market will always bounce back, comments on many of Lamdin’s YouTube videos show there is a sizeable online community who believe the ongoing lack of affordability within the housing market will cause problems further down the line.

“Sobering and a further clarion call to buy later… thank you both for this ‘story’, which is foretelling the future for many,” said andreweverett3829.

Nevertheless Quirk addresses his two ‘opponents’ directly in his video, saying “you have got to stop scaring people with your prophecies’.

Lamdin’s reply

Lamdin, in reply to Quirk’s comments, tells The Neg: “My sole objective throughout my entire career has been to make it easier to move home and to boost transaction volumes and thus liquidity. This remains the case.

“I haven’t ever said house prices will crash. I am repeatedly misquoted. (I challenged Russell for evidence of me saying house prices would crash, and he dishonestly misquoted a joke video I did reading out a viewer’s comment) https://x.com/moving_charlie/status/1755262088627241414?s=20

“I have said, all along, that I expect house prices to slide gradually but significantly over 3 years, with large regional variations on the scale and timing of those falls. I have never said wait to buy. I’ve always said anyone who needs a home and can afford it should “buy now, but don’t overpay.” That remains the case.

“Right now, agents are suffering a sharp drop in transaction volumes. This is largely due, as reported by many house price indices, to unrealistic price expectations by sellers. Yet agents continue to overprice. This is like taking out a gun and shooting a hole in your foot in a falling market, if you are an agent.

“Countless agents admit to me, off the record, that they have seen much larger price falls than is being reported in the media, but they can’t state this publicly as it is understandably off-putting for their clients.

“Russell is only interested in being right or wrong. I am only interested in reality and transparency, because it makes things easier for movers and agents. I’m not afraid of being wrong, and I often am.”