It's not rocket science, is it?

dudleyboy

I'm just wondering how long it will take before all these "up and coming" areas return to being considered as "!!!!!! holes"... or whether investors will demolish whole, vacant, apartment blocks so they can use the land to grow crops for food and bio fuels.

More importantly, I'm concerned that when prices do crash I won't be able to get a mortgage because my paltry deposit and monthly savings allocation has been completely squeezed and/or eroded by a higher cost of living - and believe you me, despite being on an above average salary and living extremely frugally, I'm already beginning to feel the pinch. Unfortunately those student loans don't pay themselves (another tip of the hat to Uncle Gordon there) and not everyone has a rich mummy and daddy they can sponge from or turn to when the going gets tough. (Of course, I'm not saying anyone here has either, but there are plenty of them out there and I've already managed to successfully distance myself from a tactless few.)

I'm delighted that house prices are going to crash and while I know a lot of people are going to suffer in the process, I didn't see anyone losing any sleep over people like us during the boom (us being those in our 20s - now 30s - who were completely priced out of the market before we had any chance or money to do anything about it).

In fact, I still don't see anyone losing any sleep over people now - it's still all about "portfolios", "equity" and "profit" for a lot of people. No one gives a !!!!!! about anyone but themselves and this greed, capitalism and corruption has rotten this country to the core.

If it's not shelter they're investing in, it's heating and nourishment (you'll notice that "Turkey Twizzlers" appear to be inflation-proof). The rich just keep getting richer, the poor get poorer, and we all suffer as a result. (If disenfranchised youths are wandering the streets wielding knives during an economic boom, what are they going to be like when they're homeless, cold and hungry?)

And all under a Labour government. I wonder what John Smith would have made of it all. I can't imagine he'd be too impressed.

Jonbvn

dudleyboy wrote: »

In fact, I still don't see anyone losing any sleep over people now - it's still all about "portfolios", "equity" and "profit" for a lot of people. No one gives a !!!!!! about anyone but themselves and this greed, capitalism and corruption has rotten this country to the core.

What do you suggest? Collectivism perhaps with us all living in Soviet era apartments, or perhaps we can all go and live in a Kibbutz?:rotfl:

IveSeenTheLight

ryandj wrote: »

I don't really like the general smugness of people around the board who seem happy about house prices crashing, just for the sake of rubbing it in with people who own houses.

It's not nice if people are smug, many will state that they are happy because FTB affordability will be higher.

Regarding affordability, I noticed with interest that HBOs has a spreadsheet monitoring affordability since 1983
http://www.hbosplc.com/economy/includes/18_04_08affordability.xls

House Price - Earnings Ratio (UK average)
MAX = 5.95 (Q3 07)
MIN = 3.09 (Q4 95)
AVG = 4.05
Current = 5.66 (Q1 08)

Mortgage Affordability (UK Average) (Mortgage repayments as a percentage of income)
MAX = 36.67% (Q3 90)
MIN = 12.97% (Q2 02)
AVG = 19.59%
Current = 24.73% (Q1 08)

WTF?_2

ryandj wrote: »

I don't really like the general smugness of people around the board who seem happy about house prices crashing, just for the sake of rubbing it in with people who own houses.

'General smugness' is your perception. A few people are deliberately winding others up with their posts but the fact is that some are going to take offence at any post that challenges their view of how things should be. Witness the openly hostile response to 'prices are going to come down sharply' posts only seven or eight months ago here.

Warning people about what is happening and keeping them informed of stuff that the wider media decides not to tell us (either through dumbing down or deliberate manipulation) does not equal being smug or cheering it on.

WTF?_2

Jonbvn wrote: »

What do you suggest? Collectivism perhaps with us all living in Soviet era apartments, or perhaps we can all go and live in a Kibbutz?:rotfl:

That's a lovely straw man you have there

I'm with DB. What's really annoying is the blinkered, dollar-signs-in-eyes attitude to property that has predominated over the last decade.

dudleyboy

Jonbvn wrote: »

What do you suggest? Collectivism perhaps with us all living in Soviet era apartments, or perhaps we can all go and live in a Kibbutz?:rotfl:

Yes, of course, that's exactly what I am suggesting.

johng_uk

ryandj wrote: »

I don't really like the general smugness of people around the board who seem happy about house prices crashing, just for the sake of rubbing it in with people who own houses.

Whilst I am not smug and don't tend to post on the 'housing crash' forums all to often, I can see both points of view.

People who might not have been able to afford a decent home for their families, may be in the position where they can soon. That doesn't mean there's an underlying need to be smug about it. In fact, due to the lack of intonation on forum posts, maybe some posts are interpretated as smug when indeed they aren't.

I haven't owned a property but have saved a sizeable deposit and am currently biding my time and watching the market. It's an exciting time for me in all honesty (purely on a house market basis). The trouble is that everything else is rising in price, mortgages are harder to come by and people are losing their jobs. It isn't all a silver lining, but the property market is for the likes of me.

It's not so good for people who own houses - Especially those who were planning or will need to sell their homes! I wonder how many of these people bought their homes during previous crashes and were in the same position as some of us are now? Quite a few I'd imagine...

Generali

IveSeenTheLight wrote: »

It's not nice if people are smug, many will state that they are happy because FTB affordability will be higher.

Regarding affordability, I noticed with interest that HBOs has a spreadsheet monitoring affordability since 1983
http://www.hbosplc.com/economy/includes/18_04_08affordability.xls

House Price - Earnings Ratio (UK average)
MAX = 5.95 (Q3 07)
MIN = 3.09 (Q4 95)
AVG = 4.05
Current = 5.66 (Q1 08)

Mortgage Affordability (UK Average) (Mortgage repayments as a percentage of income)
MAX = 36.67% (Q3 90)
MIN = 12.97% (Q2 02)
AVG = 19.59%
Current = 24.73% (Q1 08)

It's an interesting bit of analysis but I think that comparing disposable income to repayment mortgage outgoings would be more interesting.

snoopy78

ryandj wrote: »

I don't really like the general smugness of people around the board who seem happy about house prices crashing, just for the sake of rubbing it in with people who own houses.

"General smugness" translating to extreme happiness at the realisation that we can now afford a house without having to sell our kidneys on the Russia black market.

The only people who suffer in a HPC are the banks, and EA. My parents who own a really nice place are looking forward to prices going down as it will make it easier for them to trade up even if there house fulls 20%, 20% of the type of houses they want is a lot more and thus there savings will cover more of the price leading to less mortgage from the Fat bank manager (only one loser here).

If we are not sympathetic to those people who have 95%-100% mortgages and are now in negative equity or BTL who are now losing their own homes, it is because it was this reckless behaviour thought the last ten years that have resulted in high house prices.

JonnyBravo

!!!!!!? wrote: »

You really don't need to be Einstein to see where house prices are going to go.

We gathered that when you worked it out.



Another cheap shot....... sometimes I just can't help myself :doh: