BBC Article - mortgage affordability has improved

Thrugelmir

barnaby-bear wrote: »

the last 5 years and current outlook seem the most stable and budgetable I've seen it....

Stable is the not the word I would choose to describe the overall current financial climate. Though much depends on which side of the fence you are on. As probably never been greater inequality.

nollag2006

More good news on affordability for hard pressed FTBs from today's Guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2012/aug/31/hsbc-first-time-buyer-mortgage

As low cost deals like this come on to the market for those with a deposit of 10% or less, then it should start to really fuel the housing market recovery which is just bumping along the bottom now.

Still - both Nationwide and Land Registry have shown strong acceleration this month, particularly in London and the South East.

Graham_Devon

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

House prices are rising Brit, not falling.

In London, yes.

For the rest of the counry your statement is wrong. They have risen outside London in 3 areas. But these rises will amount to very little in terms of physical money, as they have all risen less than 1%.

In terms of graphical regions, there are more places falling than there are rising, and the falls are larger than the rises. You can mask over the complete picture by adding London into the mix to claim house prices are rising.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

Graham_Devon wrote: »

For the rest of the counry your statement is wrong. They have risen outside London in 3 areas. .

Firstly, that very much depends on the index you look at.

The latest ONS release has prices rising in every region of England except for one.... The North East.

But more importantly, and as you should really know full well by now, even regional rises or falls mask the reality that most local areas are not falling in price, despite Brit's constant protestations to the contrary.

RICS has reported a remarkably consistent range of local areas where falls are observed, and it's remained a small minority for years now.

Granted, the areas where prices are rising are also small. Most areas are stable....

But prices are certainly not falling for most people, and have not been for years.