Thursday, Jun 14, 2007
Amazing propensity to spend! IRs to climb further?
BBC: US consumers go on shopping spree
US consumers have surprised analysts, as official figures revealed that retail sales grew 1.4% in May.
Posted by tyrellcorporation @ 10:26 AM (123 views) Add Comment
11 Comments
- If you do not have an admin password leave the password field blank.
- If you would like to request a password allowing you to add comments and blog news articles without needing each one approved manually, send an e-mail to the webmaster.
- Your email address is required so we can verify that the comment is genuine. It will not be posted anywhere on the site, will be stored confidentially by us and never given out to any third party.
- Please note that any viewpoints published here as comments are user's views and not the views of HousePriceCrash.co.uk.
- Please adhere to the Guidelines
1. royston said...
Like the laboratory frog who got cooked because the water was heated so slowly and gradually, the consumer has come to believe the debt he is carrying is normal and sustainable. This is reinforced by advertising from the financial service industry, telling us that liabilities are really assets - e.g. mortgage equity withdrawal - "No, it's not just taking out a bigger mortgage. It's your money. And, anyway, anything you take out will be replaced by growth in house prices - which will also enable you to take out more later." ( - Where do these nutty ideas come from? Did Franz Kafka ever write an economics book?).
2. mrmickey said...
I heard on radio 4 that the law has been changed on unsecured loans. At the moment the lender can't force you to sell your house to pay back the loan, the government has now changed this so that yes the lender can now force you to sell your house to pay off the loan, in effect there is no such thing as an unsecured loan anymore certainly not if you own a house. I haven't seen much about this in the media but the lenders can see what's coming and have quietly had the law changed in their favour.
3. Richard A said...
Actually, the figures may not be what they seem.
"Commerce rigs this data all the time and goes through wrenching revisions later on. The net of the data is this: retail sales less autos, bldg materials and gas stations (so called core retail sales) were up 2.6% y/y. The CPI is up 2.6% y/y. Voila...you have effectively 0% real core retail sales in May and that is WITH their gaming the numbers."
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2007/06/retail-sales-conundrum.html
4. Orwell said...
Mr. M I haven't heard this and as a lawyer (ex Housing Lawyer) I would be interested. But perhaps you have better details?
5. Wage Slave said...
Can they take your pension yet ?
6. Tara747 said...
mrmickey, that is BIG news!!!!
I wonder when (or if) it will be widely reported.
7. David20040_0 said...
Could it be that the US economy is now recovering?
8. night said...
@mrmickey - According to the article submission form this has already been submitted, I guess it must've been when the programme first aired. Anyway, here's a link to the Radio 4 Moneybox show, which I believe you were referring to.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/moneybox/6737261.stm
9. Orwell said...
Ok
I can understand this now!
Its a while since I have done any debt advice work (although in the past I have worked at the CAB).
Surely this is nothing more than one of the available orders a Court can already effectively make? At present they start with periodical payments on a CCJ. If these are met then that is sufficient. However I do now see a scramble to get in and secure the debt against the property without a charging order which is usually only made in default of a PPO.
The question of course is going to be priority of payment, unlike a mortgage it will be difficult to rate this as the Land Registry will not keep details, or will they? Possibly sinister. Or will the mortgagee,lender when in possession through default and non payment of the mortgage have to account before any (if there are any) proceeds are paid to the owner? Or will the conveyancers have to account out of proceeds on normal sale otherwise the charge runs with the land as at present?
Is this not just the usual practice but that the Court can make the order irrespective of whether payments are being made?.
10. inbreda said...
Thanks mrmickey and night
I am amazed that this story hasn't been much more visible. I think this is huge. I get the feeling when things turn, the bank that is going to come out on top, is the one that scrapes back the most debts the quickest. It will be a race to the bottom with banks forcing people to sell their house to repay unsecured debt before the price falls below the level of the mortgage.
It's going to be a feeding frenzy.
11. tyrellcorporation said...
This new piece of legislation is the obvious next step for the banks who have been steadily (through enducements) weening people off unsecured debt by offering to lump all their debt together into a mortgage extension. That way they can get their money back easily if it all goes t*ts up.
This news is massive!