Boom

[BlasterBates]

boomed

Wow just (buy to) let me in there.

[DimPrawn]

You should have bought in December when houses were cheap.

HTH

[BrilloPad]

You should have bought in December when houses were cheap.

HTH

It is not a question of cheap or expensive - but whether they will get cheaper or more expensive.

[DimPrawn]

It is not a question of cheap or expensive - but whether they will get cheaper or more expensive.

More expensive. UK property only goes up.

It's different this time.

[Troll]

Link
Britons cling to a comforting notion that overpopulated islands with a shortage of land can never suffer a sharp fall in house prices. Such illusions are often at the root of the most extreme asset bubbles.

Some of the most spectacular property crashes over the last 60 years occurred in the Pacific rim islands during the 1990s. Tokyo land prices fell 80pc in Japan's deflation. Property prices fell 63pc in Hong Kong, and 56pc in Taiwan. Each is a more crowded island than Britain. In each, the bust followed rampant misuse of debt leverage. Closer to home, we see a crunch in Ireland. Dublin property prices fell roughly 10pc in 2007.

The British economy has been recklessly mismanaged for over five years.

Indictment One: the UK current account deficit reached 5.7pc of GDP in the third quarter of last year, the worst of any major country in the world, bar Spain. "This is approaching Banana Republic status," said Albert Edwards from Société Générale. "Years of macro-mismanagement have dragged the UK economy to the edge of a precipice. The household sector is borrowing at a cyclically unprecedented 4pc of GDP. Basing economic growth on unsustainable asset price bubbles was always a recipe for disaster," he said.

Indictment Two: we are a budget basket case as well, with a deficit of 3pc of GDP at the top the cycle. We enter slump without a fiscal shield. Even America is doing better.

Indictment Three: the state share of the economy has risen from 37pc to 45pc in eight years, on OECD figures. We have risen above Germany for the first time since the Schmidt-Callaghan era. Berlin has been trimming as we bloat fatter. So have the Swedes, Danes, Dutch, Belgians, Austrians, Italians, Spanish and Eastern Europeans. It is a matter of political taste whether you think Brown's largesse on doctors, nurses, schools, and roads has been well used, but there is no denying that we are now one of the most socialist/collectivist states in the world.

Indictment Four: household debt has reached 103pc of GDP, pushing the frontiers of irresponsibility into uncharted terrain. The Americans buckled at around 85pc. UK home equity withdrawals have reached £50bn a year. We are spending unrealised paper profits at a rate of 4pc of GDP per annum. Some 58pc of all home loans issued in Britain in 2006 were either sub-prime, buy-to-let, or other forms of "specialist lending". The effective cash and liquid assets ratio of the banks has fallen to zero.

Is it not disturbing that Northern Rock should have collapsed even before the housing market turned, and defaults had begun to soar? What happens now if UK house prices fall 5pc in 2008 as forecast by Merrill Lynch, or indeed further?

[DimPrawn]

What happens now if UK house prices fall 5pc in 2008 as forecast by Merrill Lynch, or indeed further?

If house prices fall 5%, buy more houses, they were a bargain.

[BrilloPad]

If house prices fall 5%, buy more houses, they were a bargain.

sounds right - keep doubling up prefrably.

[PAH]

My local rag had an article on the housing market, saying now interest rates are on the way down, there's a resurgence of first time buyers entering the market as they're desperate to get on the ladder. It even said many first time buyers had managed to find bigger deposits, which was an indication the lenders were tightening their policies.

Couldn't find an "advertisement by your local estate agent scum" or "this article sponsored by Labour" anywhere, so it must be true.

Amazing how so many people can afford these property prices when wages are at best static and everything else seems to be getting more expensive.

[DimPrawn]

Good news and bad news

Good news for buyers:

Surprisingly, Kensington and Chelsea - London's wealthiest enclave - was the worst-performing borough in the past month, with average house prices down 4.2% on the previous month.

Bad news for buyers:

However, it still witnessed the biggest rises over the past year, with prices up 30.2% on February 2007 and an average property price of £1.56m.

[BlasterBates]

hmm is this the pattern in the housing market