Even as a homeowner, I think we need a house price crash.
How can the young be expected to behave responsibly and save if they are denied the chance to own their own places due to very high house prices. Coupled with that are the outrageous fees for students introduced under our blessed Tony when he was around.
How can it be fair that a 34-year old like me can leave uni with £3K debt and buy a flat/house for just over 3 times earnings and a 24-year old leaves with £20-30k uni debt and has to pay up to 9 times salary for a property?
House prices crashing - good or bad?
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Gavin Scott
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I left Uni with £1700 worth of debt but managed not to jump on the housing ladder - something I can't do now unfortunately.johnnyboy wrote:Even as a homeowner, I think we need a house price crash.
How can the young be expected to behave responsibly and save if they are denied the chance to own their own places due to very high house prices. Coupled with that are the outrageous fees for students introduced under our blessed Tony when he was around.
How can it be fair that a 34-year old like me can leave uni with £3K debt and buy a flat/house for just over 3 times earnings and a 24-year old leaves with £20-30k uni debt and has to pay up to 9 times salary for a property?
I'm personally quite pleased to hear that alcho-pop quaffing kids can get a house neither.
I think I fit that profile, I'm 23 with nearly £20k of student debt and I'm rubbing my hands at the idea of being able to afford a house in a couple of years time! Well, providing I can actually get a decent paying job in the overcrowded field of IT. Luckily, Sheffield is still a pretty damn affordable place to live even now, so if prices do crash that'll do nicely.
As a bit of trivia, the house I'm renting now has literally tripled in value since my landlord bought it in 2002.
As a bit of trivia, the house I'm renting now has literally tripled in value since my landlord bought it in 2002.
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Nick Harvey
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It's all the Bank of England's fault.
They should bang an extra few percent on interest rates.
I'm beginning to find it quite difficult to live on the interest from my savings.
Terrible state of affairs!
Oh, and, by the way, I sympathise with the rest of you.
They should bang an extra few percent on interest rates.
I'm beginning to find it quite difficult to live on the interest from my savings.
Terrible state of affairs!
Oh, and, by the way, I sympathise with the rest of you.
Current house prices are unsustainable. There is no way I could afford to buy my house now if I was starting from scratch. A crash would be welcome to many, especially those just wanting that chance to get a foot on the property ladder. It would, however, be disconcerting for those who bought at the peak of the current boom. Paying a negative equity mortgage must be soul destroying.
It's fine if you can sit it out for 5-10 years, keep paying an inflated mortgage and wait until prices catch up again. But if we approach any economic slowdown, or rapid increase in interest rates many of them will lose their homes.
There may be unprecedented levels of personal debt at the moment, but many of my generation have parents with property which we will inherit (more so than any previous generation). I suspect that injection of capital in the future may keep the housing market bouyant during the 2010s.
It's fine if you can sit it out for 5-10 years, keep paying an inflated mortgage and wait until prices catch up again. But if we approach any economic slowdown, or rapid increase in interest rates many of them will lose their homes.
There may be unprecedented levels of personal debt at the moment, but many of my generation have parents with property which we will inherit (more so than any previous generation). I suspect that injection of capital in the future may keep the housing market bouyant during the 2010s.
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Nick Harvey
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Mortgage?
Could somebody please re-explain the concept. I've forgotten all about it.
Paid mine off in 1993.
Could somebody please re-explain the concept. I've forgotten all about it.
Paid mine off in 1993.
In a parallel universe, I might well be. I think I am also competing on Strictly Come Dancing with Kate Silverton in that universe too.Jovis wrote:I hear you're a supporter of the Labour party johnnyboy. Is this true?
You pay them off, rather than hit them with a bolt of lightening. I'm guessing your mortage was with Barings?Nick Harvey wrote:Mortgage?
Could somebody please re-explain the concept. I've forgotten all about it.
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It's all good and well to suggest a crash in the housing market to help first home buyers out, but that sort of thing has far reaching consequences. One key concern should be the impact on the rental market. Now, I know there are a lot of people out there who hate money-grubbing property investors, but when they buy a property, they don't just sit on it and let it gather dust - they rent it out to people. If you have a crash in the market (notwithstanding speculation over whether you've hit the bottom of the market and whether it's a good time to buy in) investors go and put their money somewhere else. What happens to those people who are renting? It gets harder for them to find a place to live. Not all of them will be in a position to go out and buy property, even at the rock-bottom prices (which even in the event of a crash might not be all that low).
I accept that property values probably are unsustainably high - it's a common phenomenon throughout many developed countries. We're certainly grappling with the same issue here in Australia. While there might be some limited benefits to a market crash, there's also going to be tremendous costs. All I can say is, be careful what you wish for.
I accept that property values probably are unsustainably high - it's a common phenomenon throughout many developed countries. We're certainly grappling with the same issue here in Australia. While there might be some limited benefits to a market crash, there's also going to be tremendous costs. All I can say is, be careful what you wish for.
