House Price Collapse - what house price collapse?

I live in Balham, or to be more precise, I rent a poky one bed flat above a shop on Balham High Road. And I like Balham. A lot. It’s friendly, has great bars, good shops, lots of parks near by, and a nice ambience. I like it so much that I am considering buying a property there. And, rubbing my hands together for the past six months in anticipation of the house price fall, I’m still waiting for anywhere affordable to come onto the market.

I keep hearing about how dreadful the housing market is, how house prices have dropped by 30 percent in the past year, and I’m not seeing it happening in reality. Flats that were over £300,000 this time last year are still over £300,000. Maybe it’s yet to hit the gentrified London suburb of Balham, and maybe when it does I still won’t be able to afford to buy somewhere where houses are at a premium. Maybe the house price collapse means nothing for me other than watching the already rich become richer and the already poor become poorer. And maybe I’ll have to start looking outside of Balham for my first buy.