Which Decade Was The Hardest On The Yoof For Buying A House?

lilac_lady

I totally agree, nearlynew.

ukcarper

70's

nearlynew wrote: »

I don't care what anyone says and I'm not going to argue/debate it...

Anyone who says it is easier for a young person to buy a house now than it was 20, 30, 40 years ago is talking out of their 4rse.

These days, any calculations on "affordability" or any other bullsh1t based on "two incomes" is just that - bullsh1t.

I've been there, done it and seen it.

Needing two incomes to pay for what used be paid for by one is not progress - it is theft.

All the equity in the world cannot make up for the social damage which has taken place in the name of prosperity.

A prosperity built on lies and fuelled by debt.

But house prices now are no more compared to wages than they were in the early 70s and late 80s.

kabayiri

The toughest time to buy a house was definitely between 4.15pm and 6.30pm.

Why? Often because the solicitor would already have their coat on, ready for home time. Then there's negotiating a removal van through rush hour traffic.

People who moved before midday, about elevenses, sheesh they don't realise how lucky they were

zeupater

ukcarper wrote: »

But house prices now are no more compared to wages than they were in the early 70s and late 80s.

Agree ....

2.5x joint income + 10% deposit + mortgage lending rules for branches + indemnity insurance + up to 15% interest rates (1983/4 ?) + recession/jobloss fears ..... sounds exactly like today, except for paying three times the interest ...

I'd rather be a first time buyer today than when we bought. Like stated above, buying was a hard option, whatever we needed was bought on a monthly basis as the money became available, a fridge one month, a washing machine another, a freezer, a TV etc ... it probably took 18 months or more to turn a house into a home and that was only possible by restricting entertainment expenditure and not going on holiday for a few years ......

Let's not just get hung up on houses either ... I paid £1000 for a video recorder in the early 80's, that's probably the equivalent of £4k to £6k for a HD recorder (£200) today, a quite basic car cost us around £6k new, about £30k in todays money, that's 2.5x what a much better spec car would cost today ... I could go on about holidays and hifi and cameras and computers and microwaves and TVs and clothes and .... well you get the point, almost everything is cheaper in real terms today than at any time in the past, yes things, houses included, were cheaper, but in real terms (relative to earnings) can anyone seriously say that, on the whole, times are harder now without someone who has been on the planet for a while rolling on the floor .... :rotfl::rotfl: .... isn't it just a case that times are just a little harder than then have been in the very, very recent past ....

I maintain the viewpoint that I would rather be a first time buyer of houses, or probably any consumer item, today than when I was a first time buyer .... with all of the spare money we could have gone on holiday and to the pub more often and to the cinema and to shows and out for meals and ....... instead of watching TV and saving for the next pressing and expensive purchase ....

Z

Jimmy_31

ukcarper wrote: »

But house prices now are no more compared to wages than they were in the early 70s and late 80s.

Leccys gone up a bit though.

ukcarper

70's

Jimmy_31 wrote: »

Leccys gone up a bit though.

Not compared to wages and telephone lines are a lot cheaper, food is also a lot cheaper than the 70s.

Thrugelmir

70's

[QUOTE=nearlynew;47639817
These days, any calculations on "affordability" or any other bullsh1t based on "two incomes" is just that - bullsh1t.

I've been there, done it and seen it.

Needing two incomes to pay for what used be paid for by one is not progress - it is theft.

[/QUOTE]

Early 80's first property. Best advance we could get was 2.75 times joint income. There was no 3 times plus option.

So saving for the best deposit you could was hard work.

SteveV2

I bought in the 00's. Only ever bought 1 house, so 00's for me was worst and best time to buy

grimsalve

First house I bought was in 91 and it seemed a bit messy - interest rates were something like 15% (but there was still MIRAS), ltv and salary multipliers were a lot tighter but the banks and building societies did compete for business. Finding a nice house meant trawling round estate agents and doing a lot of homework. And then there was the small issue of negative equity, houses being repossessed, etc. etc.

Seemed difficult at the time but possibly easier than it is for an FTB now.

Percy1983

00's

The way I see it now, when people mention the high interest rates of the 70s/80s I can imagine it was very tough and in some ways right now it may be slightly easier with the low interest rates.

But if I paying rates in the 70s/80s I would see the light at the end of the tunnel as they would come down eventually.

Buying now great as it is all I can do is wait for interest rates to increase, I guess it won't take interest rates to rise much before the current situation is much worse.

In short I would rather pay high interest for a few years on a low priced asset than low interest of a few years on a high priced asset.