House prices..

Annual house price change is no longer negative according to Nationwide figures: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8286028.stm

It remains to be seen how long it will take for prices to get back to 2007 levels though.

but whats the amount of new homes purchased? how many mortgages have been taken out. Anyone can say prices are going up, but is there anyone actually buying them? plus the UK government desperately needs house prices to rise to lower its own debt( interest) etc.. and higher the value of uk assets, the easier it becomes cheaper external funding.
They really need to rise house prices they have gambled on it, they have put up your house for collateral to get cheap credit to pay of there debts.
 
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but whats the amount of new homes purchased? how many mortgages have been taken out. Anyone can say prices are going up, but is there anyone actually buying them?

Actually no, no reputable publisher of statistics can just say that average house prices are going up, they have to back it up with data.

Not really sure what the volume of new homes has to do with it, other than the fact that obviously if fewer new homes are being built/sold it increases the demand pressure on existing homes - which is just pure logic as we'd expect to see in most industries.

As for the number of mortgages being taken out, again, the price of a house is the price of house, regardless of whether 1 mortgage is taken out, or 1 million (although again of course one would expect increased lending to put upwards pressure on prices).

One of the great things about average house prices is that they are just pure numbers; people will try and put a spin on things one way or another by saying "oh that's only because XYZ", but the fact remains, that's what houses are going for regardless of any underlying factors.

People will say things like 'oh, houses are only increasing in price because few people are selling, they are sitting tight or renting it out instead'. Well, so what? That might perhaps temper price growth in the future as more properties come back onto the market, but for the time being, it's not making prices any cheaper.
 
If I have ever seen a case for the "double dip" its now, house prices rising, Christ, that was quick, jobs are still going like wild fire, BA getting rid of 1,700 and pay freeze. Scary times.
 
If I have ever seen a case for the "double dip" its now, house prices rising, Christ, that was quick, jobs are still going like wild fire, BA getting rid of 1,700 and pay freeze. Scary times.

Totally agree.

Factor in the interest rates can not stop this low forever.
 
A lot of people have disappeared from this thread. :D Oh well, that massive house crash they have been predicting since 2001 will finally appear I'm sure.

Yep it will. How can the market keep going up in the face of increasing unemployment and soon- to- be increasing interest rates?
 
How can the market keep going up?
Believe you me people have been saying this for years. I'd be picky about where I was buying but in a strong area I'd have no worries about jumping on the property ladder now if I was looking for a long term place to live.

I doubt there will be a huge interest rate increase in the near future, the last thing they want to do is end up with loads of people who can't afford their mortgages anymore, especially as you say with unemployment increasing which will mean too many reposessions anyway.
 
It is in the interests of the Government to ensure property prices stay high and there is no price crash. The Government will do whatever it takes to keep house prices (artificially) high. They've already showed their willing to do this by lowering interest rates to nearly zero and by raising the stamp duty threshold, to coax buyers into buying properties before 2010.

Historically, if you look at it, you are right in saying that it is impossible for house prices to increase, but those days are gone. This is the new age, where Governments are prepared to do whatever it takes and where so many property programs on the TV encourage amateurs to spend money on property.
 
Kinda agree with what sunama said and I missed my opportunity to buy a house now. Still can't afford a nice place so will wait to buy a house with my GF next year. But I do felt it's kinda sad the goverment here doesn't care about housing affordability for the nation. In Singapore, the government is much more considerate, they have houses/flats that can only be bought by Singapore citizens so the citizens don't have to compete with rich international buyers. BTW I noticed a lot of houses and flats in London are actually own by international buyers. I know a rich guy who never visited London (or have any intention of staying in London) bought 3 flats in February, in central london just to rent out and wait for the prices to go up up and up.
 
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Me and the gf are picking up the keys for our first house on monday.
It's taken 6 months to find the right place.
Horsham didn't seem to drop much in price overall, and with so little on the market and everyone scrabbling to buy it artificialy inflated the prices again.
Our place is a modern 3 double bedroom semi, just down the road in Faygate. Paid less than the bloke did in 2006 which was nice.
Got ourselves a 75% ltv ratio fixed at 5% for 5 years, keeps the payments easily managable and our wages will go up a good bit by then.
 
Kinda agree with what sunama said and I missed my opportunity to buy a house now. Still can't afford a nice place so will wait to buy a house with my GF next year. But I do felt it's kinda sad the goverment here doesn't care about housing affordability for the nation. In Singapore, the government is much more considerate, they have houses/flats that can only be bought by Singapore citizens so the citizens don't have to compete with rich international buyers. BTW I noticed a lot of houses and flats in London are actually own by international buyers. I know a rich guy who never visited London (or have any intention of staying in London) bought 3 flats in February, in central london just to rent out and wait for the prices to go up up and up.


London is a no-go area for most locals now tbh, unless you bought before the 90s.

There is still plenty of affordable property around, but not in London or the SE in general.

In Nottingham, where I went to UNI, you could get a 3 bed house in a good area for £150k, similar area in outer London £350k :/

My opinion is that prices will stabablise at their current level for a long time. The current increases are purely down to stimulus. We will see after the electon (hopefully in March) where the housing market stands. Just seems like a lot of hot air right now.

I also read that interest rates may stay below 1% for the next 5 years. I wouldn't put it past the government to do this. But if it allows us to continue our current way of life, im all up for the disadvantages. I wouldn't want lower house prices at the expense of the country.
 
Me and the gf are picking up the keys for our first house on monday.
It's taken 6 months to find the right place.
Horsham didn't seem to drop much in price overall, and with so little on the market and everyone scrabbling to buy it artificialy inflated the prices again.
Our place is a modern 3 double bedroom semi, just down the road in Faygate.
Nice - congratulations! Have been thinking of moving ourselves recently and looked at a place in Faygate and also Warnham. Not quite found what we'd like though.
 
I won't say London is a no-go area, it's the most busy and most happening city in the whole of UK. It's only a no-go because it's too expensive for most of us unless you bought a place many decades ago.

Looking at the current trend of house price growth and government supporting house prices, I'm starting to believe it's their every intention that house prices keeps going up. Even if it means going over 5x your salary to buy a small place. I'm gutted I didn't manage to find a place early this year but still I had my big share of profit from investing overseas with all my savings, thus not sufficient capital to buy a place here now.
 
Nice - congratulations! Have been thinking of moving ourselves recently and looked at a place in Faygate and also Warnham. Not quite found what we'd like though.

Cheers :) We were looking in town at first, but prices drop a good bit just going a mile and a half down the road :) comparable places in the town are a good 30k more :o

Saying that faygate only has the garage and the pub lol I can hop over the back fence and be in the Holmbush Inn :D
 
New built homes are not selling in Wigan, the amount of places that have been mothballed, right near me road is a about 30 homes and they are all empty and some £500k luxry homes they built 3 from a plot of 10 last year and not one has been sold.

Dont know where people are getting their is a shortage of homes maybe in London and built up areas but plenty of land and homes being left to rot.

Plus keeping them high while the government is pushing up taxes and cutting spending is not going to help with household costs. People keep saying wages will go up but so will living costs far more than wage rises.
 
I hate talk of the "double dip".

People just can't stop naming things in such a exaggerated scare-mongering fashion can they?

House prices might stop rising, or lower due to the unemployment level. Fair enough. I doubt they will sink to the floor, they could have done before, they didn't.

Also the it could drop 15%, it could drop 20%...who on earth knows? It's utter speculation, and fair enough everyone should have an opion. But when that opinion causes worry, hysteria and the economy to recover at a slower rate as people ar scared to spend money, then the opinion needs to be hushed.

If people started spending, if business felt confident enough to do deals, the money would start flowing and the value would soon flow.

The national debt...well that's another issue!
 
People need to be worried, the worlds finances are in a mess and we have gone to war over the same thing before. Its too easy to say lets spend, spend what? Money that we dont have and just hope the future governments bail us out time after time.

More people are saving money because they know that the uncertainty. The problem with house prices is people dont think of the extra costs its going to do to their wage all we need is food prices and oil to go up and people will be defaulting on their mortgages or defaulting on loads/credit cards and we are back in the same pot of bailing out banks and businesses going under.
 
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