Any other home buyers in NI?

saverbuyer

motorguy wrote: »

Just demonstrates that entry level call centre pay isnt brilliant - what job is for entry level jobs, but there are opportunities to progress and earn a decent wage.

Very true. The majority of jobs "promoted" by InvestNI are low paid, entry level call centre style jobs.

As you say, that's why companies are near sourcing here.

Not really the kind of economic growth I had in mind though and only works with the cheapest cost bases.

motorguy

My original thinking on all this was - does anyone have the "right" to own their own home?

Maybe there will always be this differential now between those can "afford" their own home / can get a mortgage / want a house enough to buy one, and the flourishing rental market?

Maybe most people will just rent in the future?

tara747

motorguy wrote: »

I dont think anyone has a 'vested interest' in house prices continually dropping.

I think - and what do i know? - that we need some stability and confidence in our economy before we see real recovery, with that stability being property prices, jobs, wages, etc. Once that starts it should be self perpetuating.

I think there are shoots there but its still very weak.

Of interest, i still dabble in the motor trade and it is (relatively speaking) dead in the water at the minute - again probably another sign of lack of consumer confidence.

House price inflation does not make a stable economy.

motorguy wrote: »

Over spending has got us where we are now.

And in reality, based in what you're saying, dropping house prices has done nothing at all for the economy, where the confidence that even gently rising prices would bring could be beneficial overall.

Hard to say. I'm not considering selling and i'm not considering buying, so i've no vested interest either way.

Yes - overspending on houses got us into this mess. Remind me why you want them to rise again...

motorguy wrote: »

We have an attractive cost base and we are competitive. Lots of companies 'near shore' their work to here rather than offshore to india, because we're cheap.

You're saying that we're competitive because we're cheap (and you're right that wages here are very low - and falling in real terms), yet you want rising house prices?

Don't you see a potential problem there?

motorguy

saverbuyer wrote: »

Very true. The majority of jobs "promoted" by InvestNI are low paid, entry level call centre style jobs.

As you say, that's why companies are near sourcing here.

Not really the kind of economic growth I had in mind though and only works with the cheapest cost bases.

I never advocated what InvestNI had done as an example of success - I think it would be wrong to focus only on what invest NI have been doing - their motivator seems to have been 'bums on seats' as it were.

There are many other employers bringing other jobs here - the IT and financial services industries as well as law firms.

saverbuyer

motorguy wrote: »

There is evidence though of signs of a recovery in the housing market, which i would suggest is preceeding a rise in prices.

What evidence? Are interest rate back to normal.

I think I missed that.

tara747

motorguy wrote: »

My original thinking on all this was - does anyone have the "right" to own their own home?

Maybe there will always be this differential now between those can "afford" their own home / can get a mortgage / want a house enough to buy one, and the flourishing rental market?

Maybe most people will just rent in the future?

Maybe.

....

saverbuyer

motorguy wrote: »

I never advocated what InvestNI had done as an example of success - I think it would be wrong to focus only on what invest NI have been doing - their motivator seems to have been 'bums on seats' as it were.

There are many other employers bringing other jobs here - the IT and financial services industries as well as law firms.

All are invest client companies.

All FDI.

saverbuyer

motorguy wrote: »

Probably the wrong sort of property in the wrong places. Mid sized detached is probably where theres been least demand.

I dont think the answer though is to crush prices so low as to make those 'affordable'.

You sound like an estate agent.

Remember, a house is only worth what someone is prepared to pay.

motorguy

tara747 wrote: »

House price inflation does not make a stable economy.

Please dont start misquoting me and extracting words from a sentence to prove your point.

I said a variety of things brought 'stability to the economy'. I did not say any one in isolation, or even all of them together made a 'stable economy'.

tara747 wrote: »

Yes - overspending on houses got us into this mess. Remind me why you want them to rise again...

Again, thats not what i said and you're mis quoting me.

Overspending is what i said - credit card debt, unsecured debt, bad banking decisions, property prices being allowed to spiral, poor banking constraints, etc, etc.

I did NOT say that overspending again was the answer - house prices going up does not necessarily equate to overspending.

tara747 wrote: »

Er. You're saying that we're competitive because we're cheap (and you're right that wages here are very low - and falling in real terms), yet you want rising house prices?

Don't you see a potential problem there?

Again, misquoting me - i said we were already competitive without the need to force house prices down further which clearly hasnt worked anyway.

motorguy

saverbuyer wrote: »

What evidence? Are interest rate back to normal.

I think I missed that.

There are houses selling, there are developments opening up again and there are various developments "sold out". I quoted one a fortnight ago, but i guess the "the glass is half empty" brigade chose to ignore that.