MSE News: Halifax: house prices up for third successive month

sjaypink

wow.... erm, i'm really surprised its still increasing...

it can't be real. i'm sorry but it just doesn't make sense? not just financial sense- what about common sense?!

i know its been said a trillion times- but job losses, pay freezes, pay cuts, reduced hours will be hitting a lot of people in the next few months, if it hasnt already....?

btw, dwp started a mass recruitment drive at the end of last year, in response to increasing umemployment and benefit claims, taking on those new workers on 1 yr contracts. they have now renewed those contracts, and are in the process of a second drive, in which they will be recruiting at least that number of people again, this time on 2 year contracts, as they are predicting a further significant rise in number of benefit claimants... yes, ok, we all know that anyway- but just reminding you

mitchaa

sjaypink wrote: »

i know its been said a trillion times- but job losses, pay freezes, pay cuts, reduced hours will be hitting a lot of people in the next few months, if it hasnt already....?

Are people still losing their jobs, having their hours cut and being asked to take pay drops?

Perhaps 6mths ago, but now? I thought this was all but done and dusted.

Recession is all but over, things are picking up. I think you've been on here too much reading drivel posted by the wishful thinking brigade. Do not believe everything you read, have you seen more homeless people on the street the last 18mths? What about mass riots, burglaries etc?

Things aren't all that bad, just on MSE they are;)

mitchaa

doire wrote: »

Wonder what happens when interest rates go back up, unemployment rises, QE stops etc etc etc

Not a lot, not a lot and not a lot for various reasons that i cannot be ar*ed going into again.

Thrugelmir

mitchaa wrote: »

Are people still losing their jobs, having their hours cut and asked to take pay drops?

Perhaps 6mths ago, but now?

Yes, is the answer as large scale redundancies require a 90 day consultation period. I know of 2 companies that are looking to shed 33% and 25% of their current staffing levels. Which means people will be losing their jobs at Xmas.

sjaypink

mitchaa wrote: »

Are people still losing their jobs, having their hours cut and asked to take pay drops?

Perhaps 6mths ago, but now?

Recession is all but over, things are picking up. I think you've been on here too much reading drivel posted by the wishful thinking brigade. Do not believe everything you read, have you seen more homeless people on the street the last 18mths? What about mass riots, burglaries etc?

Things aren't all that bad, just on MSE they are;)

honestly, yes to all! but i appreciate we're just talking about me/ my street/ my town

next door neighbour (chippie) has had 4 scheduled jobs cancelled in the last 3 months- he has literally had 5 weeks graft over the summer. although has now get work in london with his b-i-l.

other neighbour has been told his work is shutting down for 2 months in january

friends in retail have not had any pay rises since 2007

street homeless numbers are up- but that has much more to do with local charities changing [STRIKE]politics[/STRIKE] provisions than a reflect on the wider economy

agree though, that maybe i'm being pessimistic

julieq

There were UK specific problems, and that would have led to some degree of housing correction, but the point is that all of that was blown into insignificance by the situation in the US to which all banks became exposed. I don't recall the sequence with NR clearly but my recollection is that they were over exposed to securitised debt, not hammered by defaults. And in any case that wasn't a problem on the same scale, it didn't require massive stimulus to solve.

In any case it's futile to hypothesize now, we are where we are. To understand why it's not following the rules, you have to look at what happened as essentially two separate things, a set of domestic issues and a separate global banking crisis. If you do that, it all starts to make more sense.

EDIT: The other thing to add is that you can have a correction without a price reduction, either by rises below general inflation, or via a currency devaluation. The theory would be that when the ripples from the boulder have damped down, we'll correct from the equilibrium point we were reaching anyway, or somewhere near to it.

mr_fishbulb

mitchaa wrote: »

Are people still losing their jobs, having their hours cut and being asked to take pay drops?

Will be again soon if you believe this - http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/retailing/article6860061.ece

the_ash_and_the_oak

Well the great thing is now we'll be able to find out if the domestic issues have been succesfully resolved or not

Thrugelmir

julieq wrote: »

There were UK specific problems, and that would have led to some degree of housing correction, but the point is that all of that was blown into insignificance by the situation in the US to which all banks became exposed. I don't recall the sequence with NR clearly but my recollection is that they were over exposed to securitised debt, not hammered by defaults. And in any case that wasn't a problem on the same scale, it didn't require massive stimulus to solve.

In any case it's futile to hypothesize now, we are where we are. To understand why it's not following the rules, you have to look at what happened as essentially two separate things, a set of domestic issues and a separate global banking crisis. If you do that, it all starts to make more sense.

The issues surrounding the UK housing market are well documented and most certainly UK specific. Fundamentally a lack of regulatory control over banks and other lenders. With better controls in place the UK economy might be better placed to face the global downturn currently.

Pete111

mitchaa wrote: »

Are people still losing their jobs, having their hours cut and being asked to take pay drops?

Perhaps 6mths ago, but now? I thought this was all but done and dusted.

Recession is all but over, things are picking up. I think you've been on here too much reading drivel posted by the wishful thinking brigade. Do not believe everything you read, have you seen more homeless people on the street the last 18mths? What about mass riots, burglaries etc?

Things aren't all that bad, just on MSE they are;)

We are recruiting. As are our competitors (all London based)

We are restructuring too but overall staff numbers will be up by end of 2009 for sure.