'Property !!!!!!.. revisiting a hypnotised nation...' blog discussion

Former_MSE_Lawrence

This is the discussion to link on the back of Martin's blog. Please read the blog first, as this discussion follows it.

Read Martin's "Property !!!!!!.. revisiting a hypnotised nation..." Blog.

Click reply to discuss below.

oakhouse13

Government whether labour or conservative seem to think the lesson of the financial crash is the need for a completely new form of consumer advice, one that is completely taken out of the hands of the media, out of the hands of for profit business that earns commission from advice and has its own vested interest in giving consumers only so much transparency. In theory that could be very good for consumers. In the US government is being tipped as the hotest start up see blogger Anil Dash on the most interesting new tech start ups of 2009 and I think the potential for government to give consumers far more information on financial products than they currently have is exciting. In practice the media will probably still go for presenters that are good for ratings. Let's hope consumers really connect with government and demand all those stats about exactly how good products are before they buy.

greenalien_2

There are still many people in denial that the property party is over, and will be over for many years to come. Even the government seems to have thrown taxpayers money about to try to keep the market afloat.Yet if there's one lesson we should have learnt from the last 7 years of the property boom , it's that we can't build an economy simply by selling houses to one another at increasingly inflated prices. Unfortunately, some people - those who bought at the peak of the market, in 2007, or 'invested' in speculatively-built city-centre flats - will be in negative equity for a long time, and despite the brief flurry in activity in the market over the last couple of months, with unemployment continuing to rise, the housing market can only stagnate, or more likely fall further. This is even being reflected in one 'property !!!!!!' show, which has now become 'Property Snakes and Ladders' - finally admitting that 'the market is cooling'.

WelshGandalf

I don't think much has changed.

Indeed, the government is still saying the problem is the banks not lending money to people, rather than the amount of money they want to lend being too high (ie, house prices are still too high).

Martin is a rare creature - a journalist who has proper views on housing! Most journalists seem to own at least 1 property and hence follow & push the 4 myths that Martin mentions in his post.

tealady

I know several people who are still under the delusion that buying a house will make you money.
They use the argument "Well I bought for X and sold for Y so I have made Z" forgetting the sale costs, purchase costs of buying another house and often having to start again with repairs and redecoration.
House buying for profit is a form of gambling and just as in any othere types of gambling not every one wins.

MothballsWallet

I think we're still "hypnotised by property !!!!!!" (sorry for borrowing your phrase, Martin).

I often feel that I did the wrong thing by buying my house 8 years ago instead of continuing to rent. I had an okay 2-bedroom flat before that: if there hadn't been mould in the cupboard in the kitchen that was partially under the stairs, I wouldn't have moved.

I don't watch those property TV shows often, apart from Colin & Justin as they just crack me up when they blame their design assistant for problems that they cause by not answering their phones or being incredibly unreasonable stick-in-the-muds.