Is it me? Or has anyone noticed that we are in the largest bubble of all time?

quantic

Neil_in_Bristol wrote: »

If I could get a repayment mortgage on my current house for £200 more than I'm paying in rent, I'd jump the the chance. It's more like £600. Even if I hide the money I save under the mattress rather than investing it (which is what you're suggesting us renters are doing, presumably) that would be £75,000 over ten years.

My point is, there's nothing inherently "magical" about investing in property. It's no different to investing in shares, or anything else.

I have three friends who bought houses in 2006 and 2007 and have ended up with nothing but tens of thousands of pounds of negative equity.

I also have friends who have been renting during the same period and now have 30 grand more in the bank.

This is a very niche situation and not a rule or anything. In my area renting is almost always more expensive then a mortgage on the same property, even with 10% deposit. Not to mention the fact that you do not need to pay a maintenance payment or ground rent.

hastie

I think there is a possibility that you may be right,; however like it or not good housing in a good area is an increasingly rare commodity, and therefore of value.
If you buy well, houses are still the best investment bar none.
Safe as houses.

Neil_in_Bristol

quantic wrote: »

This is a very niche situation and not a rule or anything. In my area renting is almost always more expensive then a mortgage on the same property, even with 10% deposit. Not to mention the fact that you do not need to pay a maintenance payment or ground rent.

I think your area is the exception, rather than the rule, unfortunately. Otherwise, why would anyone bother renting?

ladymarmalade1970

People rent because they can't get a mortgage or its going to be a short term thing or because they can rent a nicer house than they can buy. I don't think the majority of people rent out of choice. I would imagine the majority of people would like to own their own house...

WelshNic

Neil_in_Bristol wrote: »

I think your area is the exception, rather than the rule, unfortunately. Otherwise, why would anyone bother renting?

Bad credit usually.

I'm pretty sure that, given the choice, more people would choose to own than rent.

Neil_in_Bristol

WelshNic wrote: »

I'm pretty sure that, given the choice, more people would choose to own than rent.

I think you're right. In most areas, though, it's because people can't afford the mortgage payments. The country would be much better if mortgages cost no more than renting!

brit1234

hastie wrote: »

I think there is a possibility that you may be right,; however like it or not good housing in a good area is an increasingly rare commodity, and therefore of value.
If you buy well, houses are still the best investment bar none.
Safe as houses.

Shares and commodities have all well out preformed house price capital gains in recent years. With house prices being so overvalued they are signifixcant risk to property investors, hence buy to let landlords represent the section of the market which is most likely to be repossessed.




We had the countries biggest housing bubble in history, even more overvalued than the US bubble. Only Spain and Ireland had bigger bubbles.

hastie

dont beilieve you.
Last 18 months on stock market has been good only due to the bank bailout.
I have bought shares and watched their value spiral to zero, (think dot com etc.)
Even buying utilities stocks has in the past seen large drops in value at times.
Stick with what I said. The right property in theright area, Safe as houses

birkee

We bought a house in 1982 at £30k, and now our current house is worth £250k. It's of no interest to us, because it doesn't provide an income.
You can't buy food with property, and property owning is a long term proposition, so home owners are not affected by the property prices very much.
It's the newbies that find it more difficult.

Have to say though, having done genealogy of my family tree, that in the future, when the country is so crowded, someone doing genealogy will be saying, "look at this! Back in 2000, they lived in their own houses, instead of community blocks! Had a garden and everything!"
In other words, homes will increase in value, as they become scarcer, and people will start living in tower blocks again, like they did in the 60's, although please tell me they learned some lessons from the garbage they built then.
Have you noticed, in American films, how many people live in apartments in cities? It's coming folks, thank heavens I've done my time. (Welllll, not today exactly, but not much more.)

birkee

p.s. House from 30k to £250k without moving upwards. Just what's happened to our initial purchase, without spending any more upgrading.