Change the curtains, itll sell (!)

slater14

Doug,

Should I come to round to your house and draw a picture?

LONDON (Reuters) - Annual house price inflation in England and Wales slowed to a three-year low in the first quarter, government data showed on Tuesday, while turnover fell by 35 percent.

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=businessNews&storyID=2005-05-09T231615Z_01_DIT983652_RTRUKOC_0_ECONOMY-BRITAIN-LANDREGISTRY.xml

35% in 1 year !!!!!! !!!!!! (thats got to be worth loads of exclamations).

Are you honestly telling me that you would advise buying shares in a company or stock which lost 35% of turnover in just 12 months?

I think meanmachine has some tech stocks he's looking to offload....

nelly_2

The BBC tv news just said high street sales have hit a ten year low but I cant see it on the webby.

I think its all the people who responded to the Norton finance/purple loans adverts that were NEVER off tv over the last 2 years. Which come to think seem to be thining out now.

There might be a vast amount of people who have borrowed right up to the amount their house has risen to lately, and so paying back that amount is kicking in badly for them. Especially after the interest rate rises.

Woby_Tide

The gain left the average property price in England and Wales at 183,486 pounds. Annual gains ranged from just below 1 percent in the Vale of Glamorgan in Wales to 45 percent in Merthyr Tydfil, also in Wales.

Look, look house prices dropping everywhere, are you honestly telling me you would have advised someone against buying in Merthyr Tydfil for the past year because house prices are crashing? Or are we still banging the same drum that national figures are still the way forward rather than looking at any regional differences?

(And seeing as if I don't point it out you automatically assume I'm advocating everyone to go and buy a house I'll add that I think it's neither a good idea nor a bad idea to be going out and purchasing a house, just make your decisions based on your own financial situation, your views on potential risk, and the market(s) situation in the area you are potentially buying and/or selling in, not on the activity at the other end of the country.)

dougk_2

Erm... prices are still 10.2% higher than a year ago so does it matter?
Its not a crash . The rate of increase is slowing. Houses are selling at a rate of 35% less than before - so what they are still selling. It just means things are not as prosperous as the last couple of years and back down to more "average" levels as expected. There is still another 5 to 7% to gho before it reaches the rate of price increases I have anticipated which is 2 to 5% INCREASE. A crash means a decrease so when figures go into negatives i.e. -1% come back and argue then.

So what happened to this interest rate rise then? It didn't happen and now you read the views of economists and they don't expect another rise now.... but perhaps falls.

One view of the best time to buy shares in a stable company is after a drop in sales/ turnover in anticipation that next years results will be better

I really can't be bothered with this discussion anymore.

Doom and gloom merchants have their own view I gave mine.

meanmachine_2

dougk wrote:

Erm... prices are still 10.2% higher than a year ago so does it matter?
Its not a crash . The rate of increase is slowing. Houses are selling at a rate of 35% less than before - so what they are still selling. .

Talk about moving the goal posts.

So now all property transactions have to be at zero for the year before you'll admit that the property market is dead?

Nah. I fold. Even I won't predict that.

Charlton_Taz

You can spin house price news to make it say what ever you want!

Though all those who say that house prices are going to crash all the figures from the banks/building societys etc are still talking about house INFLATION not DEFLATION!!

Maybe house prices will decline in the short/medium term but I fundamentally believe in the long-term they will continue to increase because of the laws of supply and demand.....especially in the south-east. Simply, they are far too few houses for those that need them therefore prices will always go up.

bridiej

Note from boardguide:

Please could we keep discussions general and not launch into personal attacks on other MSE members.

Thanks
Bridiej

slater14

Boardy person, sorry.

Doug,

The reason BoE didnt raise rates is here -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4531709.stm

....and I didnt expect that!

P.S. would you like to buy 10 properties at 2 -5% above todays value - if so please contact me asap.

I'm sure we'll all see soon enough whether we were playing with a pyramid or a real sustainable "investment".