10 years ago.....

itsgototstop

House prices were still high compared to earnings, I'm just thinking back.

I bought as a FTB 10 years ago after being told not to by alot of people who said prices would tank again.

However I was desperate for my own home.

In last 10 years I have moved twice, brother has moved 8 times as he is renting and landlords keep wanting to either turf him out (has a dog) or sell.

Are we not losing the point of buying, its not a gamble, its a home if you can afford a few IR rises and are in it for the long term.

Plus affordability issue has been around for a long time, 10 years ago as a newly qualified prof ( 3 years on top of degree) I got a crummy flat but it was all I could afford in west london zone 2.

PasturesNew

In the last 10 years my earnings have not increased by a penny.
Working predominantly for small companies I've gone through companies selling up/relocating, being bought out/closed, contracting 200 miles from home/market collapsed, made redundant, worked for somebody and never got paid, been made redundant. In between those times I have moved 350 miles, moved 100 miles, moved 100 miles, worked 200 miles from home/stayed in a B&B, moved 200 miles.

I bet I am not the only one who has been struggling in the private sector all this time.

House prices increasing like they have and a chequered work history and location change needs mean buying was never affordable as there wasn't any slack for the bad times.

Having said that I did buy a house - then had to stay in for 5 years as I couldn't afford to have a life beyond paying the bills.

Affordability is different for everybody, every area. But it has got worse over time.

Zammo

itsgototstop wrote: »

House prices were still high compared to earnings, I'm just thinking back.

I bought as a FTB 10 years ago after being told not to by alot of people who said prices would tank again.

However I was desperate for my own home.

In last 10 years I have moved twice, brother has moved 8 times as he is renting and landlords keep wanting to either turf him out (has a dog) or sell.

Are we not losing the point of buying, its not a gamble, its a home if you can afford a few IR rises and are in it for the long term.

Plus affordability issue has been around for a long time, 10 years ago as a newly qualified prof ( 3 years on top of degree) I got a crummy flat but it was all I could afford in west london zone 2.

Sorry but that's absolute horse p1ss.

7 years ago I was able to buy a 3 bed house in a decent area for 70k. I was earning 15k a year and I had to put down 10k.

I am earning a hell of a lot more now and that's taking into account wage inflation - and there is no way I could afford to buy that same house at it's current "worth".

It may have been hard then, but it's near enough impossible now.

itsgototstop

No, west london 10 years ago was not affordable...has got worse but as my post says it was hard even 10 years ago in london for a ftb

itsgototstop

Zammo wrote: »

Sorry but that's absolute horse p1ss.

7 years ago I was able to buy a 3 bed house in a decent area for 70k. I was earning 15k a year and I had to put down 10k.

I am earning a hell of a lot more now and that's taking into account wage inflation - and there is no way I could afford to buy that same house at it's current "worth".

It may have been hard then, but it's near enough impossible now.

Not horseshit, fact in certain circumstances.

If I could have bought a 3 bed house 7 years ago on average wage here in London zone 2, I would have cried for joy, did you buy for 70k?.

Zammo

itsgototstop wrote: »

Not horseshit, fact in certain circumstances.

If I could have bought a 3 bed house 7 years ago on average wage here in London zone 2, I would have cried for joy, did you buy for 70k?.

So are you saying it would be more affordable to buy now than 10 years ago?

No thought not. Which is why this thread is a waste of cyberspace.

beingjdc

The average house price in January 1998 was £62,903, according to Nationwide. Here's a graph of house price to earnings ratio.

http://www.in2perspective.com/images/generated/stats/house-price-to-earnings-ratio-large.png

1998 looks close to the long-term average to me.

itsgototstop

This site is about polite debate but seems to have been taken over by HPC groupies who will not listen to any view but their own and refuse to debate rather be aggressive and shout down anything they disagree with.

Poor.

beingjdc

itsgototstop wrote: »

This site is about polite debate but seems to have been taken over by HPC groupies who will not listen to any view but their own and refuse to debate rather be aggressive and shout down anything they disagree with.

Poor.

There is a House Price Crash thread, and most of us who believe there is at the very least a correction coming have been well behaved in not starting other threads.

The last few days have been marked by people starting threads giving hilariously underthought anecdotes about why they think prices are still going up, e.g. "they were high ten years ago", or "they were lower three years ago". This is, at best, unsporting.

I have seen very little shouting down, and honestly, there is a far higher shouter to debater ratio on the bull side at the moment than amongst the bears on here.

itsgototstop

I wasn't talking about you, you have been reasonable and offered debate.

I object however to earlier poster calling my post horse !!!!, when all I was saying that for me even 10 years ago london house prices were not affordable.

beingjdc

itsgototstop wrote: »

I wasn't talking about you, you have been reasonable and offered debate.

I object however to earlier poster calling my post horse !!!!, when all I was saying that for me even 10 years ago london house prices were not affordable.

Oh well fair enough then, but "high compared to earnings" is a relative term, isn't it? I mean, they were on average a bit over three times - compared to six times now that's pretty low!