Is it a good time to buy a house and fix the interest rate for as long as you can?

Hedgepigs

lookstraightahead said:

I think lots of people are optimistic because they've never experienced high interest rates.

Oh absolutely. And people need to be mindful interest rates could go up massively. That's an advantage of a long fix. It allows to budget while seeing where the market is heading. The link crashy posted however is just rediculous click bait "news" calling 0.1% point rate increases a "crisis" when it is negible in the grand scheme of things, and certainly to how things could become.

Snookie12cat

Hedgepigs said:

lookstraightahead said:

I think lots of people are optimistic because they've never experienced high interest rates.

Oh absolutely. And people need to be mindful interest rates could go up massively. That's an advantage of a long fix. It allows to budget while seeing where the market is heading. The link crashy posted however is just rediculous click bait "news" calling 0.1% point rate increases a "crisis" when it is negible in the grand scheme of things, and certainly to how things could become.

It's a "crisis" because it was said even a negligible rise like that would make hundreds of thousands lose their homes 🤷‍♀️

I always buy within my means and budget for 3-4% base rate as it will almost certainly take many years to ever get back to that. 
Let's not forget the government do not want to see a repeat of the financial crash and bailout of banks again. 

Crashy_Time

lookstraightahead said:

I think lots of people are optimistic because they've never experienced high interest rates.

Yes, LOL.

Crashy_Time

Snookie12cat said:

Hedgepigs said:

lookstraightahead said:

I think lots of people are optimistic because they've never experienced high interest rates.

Oh absolutely. And people need to be mindful interest rates could go up massively. That's an advantage of a long fix. It allows to budget while seeing where the market is heading. The link crashy posted however is just rediculous click bait "news" calling 0.1% point rate increases a "crisis" when it is negible in the grand scheme of things, and certainly to how things could become.

It's a "crisis" because it was said even a negligible rise like that would make hundreds of thousands lose their homes 🤷‍♀️

I always buy within my means and budget for 3-4% base rate as it will almost certainly take many years to ever get back to that. 
Let's not forget the government do not want to see a repeat of the financial crash and bailout of banks again. 

What the UK government wants doesn`t really stack up against global pressures though does it? It didn`t during the ERM crisis, it didn`t during the sub-prime crisis and it won`t in the next crisis, the drip drip of negative sentiment from the media affects ordinary people and their financial decisions as well......

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1526969/evergrande-financial-crash-uk-housing-market-immediate-impact

Didn`t this paper always trumpet property as the greatest investment ever....what happened?

Probably a bad time to buy a house to answer the OP`s question.

GDB2222

Base rate history since 1694 is available here:

https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/-/media/boe/files/monetary-policy/baserate.xls

jimbog

GDB2222 said:

Base rate history since 1694 is available here:

https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/-/media/boe/files/monetary-policy/baserate.xls

Hadn't realised they have been this low for so long

GDB2222

jimbog said:

GDB2222 said:

Base rate history since 1694 is available here:

https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/-/media/boe/files/monetary-policy/baserate.xls

Hadn't realised they have been this low for so long

Considering that there’s quite a lot of inflation the rates are exceptionally low. 

nicknameless

Crashy_Time said:

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/christmas-crisis-for-homeowners-as-mortgages-increase-by-thousands-of-pounds/ar-AARihE5

Lol - Crashy - the gift that keeps on giving.

nicknameless

Probably a bad time to buy a house to answer the OP`s question.

When was the last good time Crashy?

Mutton_Geoff

For 277 years 1694-1971 with currency linked to holdings of precious metals (eg the "gold standard") - average rate 4.38%

For 49 years 1971-2020 after all links to gold standard removed - average rate 9.48%

It is widely written that an interest rate of +/-5% is about right for the general economy. It was that for nearly 300 years. The last decade or two has been completely skewed by printing presses with no regard to who is paying for the £20 notes.