Why were house prices cheaper in the 1970s than they are in the C21st?

vivatifosi

StevieJ wrote: »

FWIIW I think the younger generation are being betrayed on the pension front by employers that see an an easy way of reducing costs, I don't see housing as any more of a problem than it was in the past.

I completely agree. While I don't think my housebuying experiences have been massively different from those buying for the first time now, my ability to access decent pension schemes has been much greater.

bandraboy

I know how we can help house prices to continually increase. Men will be allowed to marry more than one woman and they all have to go out to work to afford the mortgage payments.

Instead of 169,000 for the average house, prices can climb to 2-3 million easily!

Graham_Devon

bandraboy wrote: »

I know how we can help house prices to continually increase. Men will be allowed to marry more than one woman and they all have to go out to work to afford the mortgage payments.

Instead of 169,000 for the average house, prices can climb to 2-3 million easily!

Imagine it will be the other way around, with the women staying at home drinking coffee with her girlfriends all day and sending the blokes off to work. Let's face it, we'll all think it's worth it for when we finally get round to having "our turn". Having said that, she'll probably have a caffiene headache when our turn comes round anyway....and none of the blokes will know she's constantly got a headache, as we'd all be competing about what she does to us on our turn

StevieJ

Graham_Devon wrote: »

No no no. Economics 101.

This would exclude all the people that can't afford to buy, and only include those who could buy.

No good when the point is more people could buy at one point than another point.

No, No, No.

Why does it exclude those that can't afford to buy? average mortgage costs divided by average net income would include everybody.

StevieJ

Graham_Devon wrote: »

Talking about that, my dad often goes on about how screwed over they got when changing to the pound.

Apparently all prices went up effectively, but the value of peoples money went down. Something to do with 240 pence?!

Was it really true that there was a big screw over going from whatever it was at the time, to the pound?

If you are converting 240 into 100 you are going to face a rounding problem, do you think the shops rounded up or down

A._Badger

Mortgages were rationed so many couldn't buy despite being able to afford the repayments

The lack of understanding of decimalisation (even what it was) suggests opinions on the state of the (infinitely more complicated) wider economic and political conditions during the 1970s be taken with a sack of salt.

Decimalisation did provide a spur to inflation - but one that was lost in the maelstrom of the first international oil crisis, emergent collapse of British manufacturing industry (note to Bennites - it had begun long before Mrs Thatcher gained office), union unrest, incompetent governments (notably Heath's) and other macro economic factors. Decimalisation was a scam - but, almost literally, just small change.

Generali

Mortgages were rationed so many couldn't buy despite being able to afford the repayments

carolt wrote: »

I'm still waiting for the other poll options...

There will be no other poll options.

Generali

Mortgages were rationed so many couldn't buy despite being able to afford the repayments

Exocet wrote: »

G, they were cheaper in real terms. Single wage buys a house. Not a shared equity high rise one bedroomed toilet... a house.

End of.

Not end of at all. Why were they cheaper? The reason is that many people that today would be able to get a mortgage were unable to do so in the 1970s as building societies could only use funds from their savers to lend. It was only in the 1980s under Mrs T's Government when building societies were able to use the money markets that more mortgages could be written.

Waterlily24

ukcarper wrote: »

They must have bought at the very beginning of the 70s because after the boom of 72 in 1973 a 3 bed terrace on the Surrey Hants border was £11k (nearly 5x average earning)

I agree, we bought a house in North West Kent(Greater London) in 1968 for £5,900 and sold it in 1973/4 for £16,500. We had done a lot to it but nevertheless.....

ukcarper

Generali wrote: »

Not end of at all. Why were they cheaper? The reason is that many people that today would be able to get a mortgage were unable to do so in the 1970s as building societies could only use funds from their savers to lend. It was only in the 1980s under Mrs T's Government when building societies were able to use the money markets that more mortgages could be written.

I think that’s what a lot of people fail to understand although houses were cheaper it was just as difficult to buy one, might have been easier to pay for it if you got one though.