[Optobear]

W12, on Feb 8 2008, 08:25 AM, said:

It seems that the most nauseating (in my opinion) of the property columnists has been browsing these pages......

http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life...icle3325824.ece

I'll slightly defend her. We probably are a little keen to see things fall in terms of house prices, and with such a sluggish entity as the housing market we probably can't expect to see things falling off very fast.

But in our defence the statistics are a bit questionable, for example Nationwide is mortgage applications and they admit that some may not proceed.

We also ought to expect a factor for a few months where falling sales volumes and difficulties in getting mortgages for any but the most credit worthy will cause a distortion to more "quality" houses and higher sale prices.

I think this is like any maxima - like when you chuck a ball in the air, it decelerates, stops, almost seems to hang, then accelarates at an alarming rate and plummets back down. Stock markets are different as they are liquid markets, and prices reflect purchasing and selling intent minute by minute.

But, mortgages are harder to get, the papers are full of negative housing sentiment, repossesions reach a 19 year high, the lagging data shows stagnation, anecdotals are bearish, Soros and Merrill Lynch predict falls, and, and...

Isn't there an expression about "if it looks like a duck...."

[eric pebble]

Bloo Loo, on Feb 8 2008, 09:18 AM, said:

ANY FTB can afford their new home.

All they need to do is go to their Dogbox broker, lie on their mortgage application about their salary, take a fixed term Interest only loan of 8 times their real combined salaries, and bobs you uncle.

Oh and get their parents to guaranteee the loan.

Yup -- As I have said time and time again --

The ONLY way to get onto the "housing ladder" is to take out a LIAR LOAN

and suffer the consequences..........

[Disillusioned]

The Last Bear, on Feb 8 2008, 08:58 AM, said:

She sounds a bit scared about house price falls.

I wonder if her daughter/son or someone close to her has just bought.

Probably as a result of her advice.

pablovblack, on Feb 8 2008, 09:09 AM, said:

Just a thought but is someone making a list of all the people who write these articles and there email addresses because when this tidal wave does hit, It might be nice to send a mass email out to each one and ask them what they think now!...

BUMP! I think this is a great plan.

crashmonitor, on Feb 8 2008, 09:53 AM, said:

My main issue with this article is the belief the Bears on this forum somehow got their forecasts wrong.

Well, that is true to a certain extent. Clearly, your forcasts were quite accurate, but there have been some howlers from us bears over the last 3 years...

[Leonard Hatred]

Ashworth can only succeed if a whole generation are locked out of ever owning a home. Basically, she's just another property parasite.

[sossij]

Only one (very good, mind) comment has been passed for sanctioned viewing so far. Scared of a little constructive criticsim perhaps?

[Paddles]

Durch, on Feb 8 2008, 11:09 AM, said:

I had a girlfriend with this perceptive disorder once.

She liked the radio blaring in the morning; I didn't. She thought that my wanting the radio off was "selfish".

She couldn't see that we were both selfishly wanting what we each wanted, and needed to compromise. According to her, only I was selfish. No amount of discussion could get her to see the obvious fact that we both were.

Stupid, maybe, but I would say wilfully stupid for selfish reasons. (Needless to say we are not together .)

On a similar note, did anyone read the article in the FT yesterday about the crisis in Spain? Hilarious quotes from the Spanish Prime Minister, absolute and total denial of reality. And in the same paper, Darling is wheeling out the "supply and demand", "USA only problem" arguments.

I guess if you're in either of those jobs you can't just stand up and say "it's looking really bad" but surely some mild warning is the least you can do?

[Edit - link to the FT article here http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f05fcca6-d51f-11...?nclick_check=1]

This post has been edited by Paddles: 08 February 2008 - 11:21 AM

[OurDayWillCome]

The Last Bear, on Feb 8 2008, 08:58 AM, said:

She sounds a bit scared about house price falls.

I wonder if her daughter/son or someone close to her has just bought.

I am really pleased by her article as it shows just how angry and scared she is - why else would she write such drivel. If she is reading this my advice is to sit down love, have a biscuit, take a deep breath... high blood pressure can be a dangerous thing.

Anyone posted a comment yet? Don't TimesOnline show most of them (unlike the BBC).

This post has been edited by OurDayWillCome: 08 February 2008 - 11:28 AM

[OurDayWillCome]

sossij, on Feb 8 2008, 10:46 AM, said:

Only one (very good, mind) comment has been passed for sanctioned viewing so far. Scared of a little constructive criticsim perhaps?

Usually they put most of the comments up.

[Paddles]

OurDayWillCome, on Feb 8 2008, 11:27 AM, said:

I am really pleased by her article as it shows just how angry and scared she is - why else would she write such drivel. If she is reading this my advice is to sit down love, have a biscuit, take a deep breath... high blood pressure can be a dangerous thing.

Anyone posted a comment yet? Don't TimesOnline show most of them (unlike the BBC).

I posted one at 9am. It isn't the one that's appeared, surprise surprise.

[Bearback Mountain]

Durch, on Feb 8 2008, 11:09 AM, said:

I had a girlfriend with this perceptive disorder once.

She liked the radio blaring in the morning; I didn't. She thought that my wanting the radio off was "selfish".

She couldn't see that we were both selfishly wanting what we each wanted, and needed to compromise. According to her, only I was selfish. No amount of discussion could get her to see the obvious fact that we both were.

Stupid, maybe, but I would say wilfully stupid for selfish reasons. (Needless to say we are not together .)

Welcome to my world.....

[SMAC67]

Before we start foaming at the mouth about journalists, please remember that newspapers in particular and the media in general are simply mouthpieces for their rich owners. As a result they are no more likely to find the truth than I am likely to find Elvis working in a chip shop. Journalists are a combination of sales people, PR people, and writers of fiction. The only thing that is accurate in a newspaper is the date, and occasionally the price.

The whole establishment is running scared, and the media as their mouthpiece is trying to delay the inevitable. It doesn't matter what Anne Ashworth believes, odious though it is, the simple fact is that a recession including HPC is happening now as we type.

She will be believe it when she is made redundant and cannot sell her property.

[Bearback Mountain]

SMAC67, on Feb 8 2008, 12:05 PM, said:

Before we start foaming at the mouth about journalists, please remember that newspapers in particular and the media in general are simply mouthpieces for their rich owners. As a result they are no more likely to find the truth than I am likely to find Elvis working in a chip shop. Journalists are a combination of sales people, PR people, and writers of fiction. The only thing that is accurate in a newspaper is the date, and occasionally the price.

The whole establishment is running scared, and the media as their mouthpiece is trying to delay the inevitable. It doesn't matter what Anne Ashworth believes, odious though it is, the simple fact is that a recession including HPC is happening now as we type.

She will be believe it when she is made redundant and cannot sell her property.

Hi Anne.

[Converted Lurker]

SMAC67, on Feb 8 2008, 01:05 AM, said:

Before we start foaming at the mouth about journalists, please remember that newspapers in particular and the media in general are simply mouthpieces for their rich owners. As a result they are no more likely to find the truth than I am likely to find Elvis working in a chip shop. Journalists are a combination of sales people, PR people, and writers of fiction. The only thing that is accurate in a newspaper is the date, and occasionally the price.
The whole establishment is running scared, and the media as their mouthpiece is trying to delay the inevitable. It doesn't matter what Anne Ashworth believes, odious though it is, the simple fact is that a recession including HPC is happening now as we type.

She will be believe it when she is made redundant and cannot sell her property.

good post, I've noticed a bitterness creeping into publications such as mortgage strategy and the group of publications that include mortgage introducer. I suspect there will be carnage in the publishing 'stuff about the mortgage industry' as choice is for the most part eradicated, similarly I can't see much point in; Fool, Moneyexpert or Moneysupermarket etc when no one's got any spare money to move around etc.