Gordon Brown: We "must get the mortgage market moving"

Max_Headroom_3

teabelly wrote: »

The US housing market collapsed because they built too many for a start. That hasn't happened here and the shortage of appropriate and reasonable quality housing remains. There are loads of empty homes but in places where there are no jobs or the neighbours are all druggies/gangsters/squatters or both.

A generation may have to face that the link between house prices and average salary has been broken altogether so some just won't be able to afford their own home regardless of much some wish that the return to old fashioned multiples returns. It may not. Until the baby boomers die off I think HPI is here to stay unless there is an outbreak of bird flu to wipe out a good chunk of the population. NIMBY's will put a stop to most of the proposed 2 million homes HMG wants to be built over the next few years. Older homes will get demolished to comply with EU energy saving so that a greater proportion of homes are more energy efficient to meet some daft arbitrary target.

What many seem to forget is that the banks and the wealthy couldn't give a rats !!! if the plebs ie us can afford their own home. The fact that there is a break between average house price and average wage matters not one iota. As long as the well off can still buy and there are enough of them everyone else will have to make do with renting.

That is a bizarre statement, with respect.

Of course the link between wages and house prices hasn't been broken, it can't be because wages ultimately have to pay for those prices!

For sure you can get a temporary blip where banks go mad and sever the link, allowing lending to get out of proportion with income (and thus house prices to get silly) but it can't last because those very wages won't support that silly level of lending, hence the mess that banks are in now.

Even if you suggest that "wealthy" people will buy the houses and rent them, the rent has to reflect the investment, and the rent has to be paid for by those wages, so again there is a direct link between the price of the house and the rent it will command (paid for out of someones wages).

Remember, it was the "supply and demand" argument that convinced many that prices could not fall. I think its been well and truly proven that this is not a valid argument.

Max_Headroom_3

londonlandlady wrote: »

!!!!!! Conrad, you are making me feel guilty. Wasn't it clear from the other thread that my posts are wind-ups? I have been assuming that nobody's investment decisions would actually be influenced by my posts and I hope yours haven't been.

LLL, thank you for finally admitting that your posts have just been a "wind up".

I can't begin to understand how empty someones life must be that they take pleasure from doing this kind of thing, but I sympathise.

However you need to understand that there are people who want to believe that it's all going to "be all right in a minute" to help justify a decision they want to make. Now you may argue that if they want to take deliberately misguided "advice" from wind up merchants like you then that is their look out, and you'd have a point, but if they do go out and buy ill-advisedly then it just slows the whole process down for everyone else as estate agents etc see buyers and advise sellers accordingly.

And that doesn't help anyone.

dervish

formulaonefan wrote: »

oh

The posts seems to be similar to 'horseinhatman'. Is that you horseinhatman? in form of londonlandlady????

Yes.

Liinguistic analysis on how each poster uses language has proven they are the same person.

space_rider

A repossessed 2 bedroom apartment where I live has had an offer accepted of £54,000. Call centre salaries are around £16,000 per year so that to me is a sensible price to be paying and not the inflated price of over £100,000 that it was bought for when it was built.

geoffky

I have just been in the nationwide and the manager said to me the days of 100% mortgages are over and will not return.we are not giving mortgages out unless we are 100% sure of repayment and with house prices going down we cannot be sure of that..so unless you are a financial angel don't bother.

monkeymaster

londonlandlady wrote: »

Clearly the Prime Minister is on the side of the homeowner and wants prices to start rising again. Is it so implausible to suggest that he will succeed?

If he is successful and the market does bounce back (as I expect it to), let's hope the advice of those posters with a vested interest in house prices continuing to fall won't have prevented any first-time buyers from missing the boat.

You're deluded if you really believe that to be the case. The actions being taken by the governments at the moment are to avoid a complete meltdown of the financial system and major depression which if it happened would result in houses changing hands for loose change. Even if the economy started picking up now there's still no way we'll see the bottom for house prices for at least 18 months and a recession is now guarenteed. The only thing that supported the house price boom was 100% + mortgages and high income multiples - those days have gone for a long time and once all the current financial troubles are sorted out, the fact that the taxpayer will be so intertwined in the system will mean regulation wouldn't allow those sorts of lending practices even if the banks wanted to.

londonlandlady

Max_Headroom wrote: »

LLL, thank you for finally admitting that your posts have just been a "wind up".

I can't begin to understand how empty someones life must be that they take pleasure from doing this kind of thing, but I sympathise.

However you need to understand that there are people who want to believe that it's all going to "be all right in a minute" to help justify a decision they want to make. Now you may argue that if they want to take deliberately misguided "advice" from wind up merchants like you then that is their look out, and you'd have a point, but if they do go out and buy ill-advisedly then it just slows the whole process down for everyone else as estate agents etc see buyers and advise sellers accordingly.

And that doesn't help anyone.

In other words: "People might make bad decisions on the basis of windups but who cares about them, I just want house prices to crash as fast as possible, and you shouldn't say anything to slow it down."

When you say "slows the whole process down for everyone else," does "everyone else" include you? I hardly think the use of the word "everyone" is justified here - a lot of people don't want house prices to fall, you know.

Your post reminds me of estate agents complaining (not so long ago) that predictions of 40% falls shouldn't be given airtime, because they were "irresponsible" and "bad for the economy." It's amazing how people manage to convince themselves that they are "in the right" when really all they're doing is acting in their own self-interest.

Of course, if you don't have a vested interest in house prices falling, I will stand corrected.

napoleon

How's horseshitman doing 'londonlandlady'? Is he well?

dopester

space_rider wrote: »

A repossessed 2 bedroom apartment where I live has had an offer accepted of £54,000. Call centre salaries are around £16,000 per year so that to me is a sensible price to be paying and not the inflated price of over £100,000 that it was bought for when it was built.

Can't imagine myself buying a house with a standard call-centre job. For one I'd be in fear of losing such a job... near in any sector. For another I'm expecting wage deflation (pay-cuts) in most sectors.

It seems many of the sheeple in the UK can't get it in to their heads the UK will have lower standards of living. They will in due course. The party is over.

Max_Headroom_3

londonlandlady wrote: »

In other words: "People might make bad decisions on the basis of windups but who cares about them, I just want house prices to crash as fast as possible, and you shouldn't say anything to slow it down."

When you say "slows the whole process down for everyone else," does "everyone else" include you? I hardly think the use of the word "everyone" is justified here - a lot of people don't want house prices to fall, you know.

Your post reminds me of estate agents complaining (not so long ago) that predictions of 40% falls shouldn't be given airtime, because they were "irresponsible" and "bad for the economy." It's amazing how people manage to convince themselves that they are "in the right" when really all they're doing is acting in their own self-interest.

Of course, if you don't have a vested interest in house prices falling, I will stand corrected.

Consider yourself corrected. If you have a look through my various posts you will discover that I own my home very nearly outright, have no intention of selling or buying, and have no "vested interest" either way. Whether my house is worth £1 or £1M tomorrow makes not one jot of difference to me.

But to clarify the point, it is actually irrelevent what people wish or think (which is why your self confessed "wind up" posts are largely useless), what will happen will happen. However desperately trying to spread disinformation, as you admit to doing, helps no one.