Friday, Feb 13, 2009
Anne Ashworth talking the market up again
The Times: Cash buyers scent rich pickings in property
If she was ramping a share she held without declaring it, she would be committing a criminal offence, but with property it's OK. Go on, type in a few choice comments to go underneath the article. Some of them might even get displayed.
Posted by monty032 @ 08:52 AM (1709 views) Add Comment
23 Comments
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1. charlie brooker said...
@monty032 : Read the blue section below about admin passwords. When you use a password you comments are practically guaranteed to appear on the news blog. To get a password click on 'Contact us' below.
2. it_is_going_with_a_bang said...
What is stage 1 recovery? Because I fail to see any of it in the news.
I think someone has stage 1 of Clinical Madness of some kind.
Or may be just desperation.
3. phdinbubbles said...
@charlie brooker
I think monty032 is talking about the comments section on the Times' article - I estimate I have a less than 10% success rate with getting my comments published on Ashworth's articles. Then again, they must expect an avalanche of people writing unflattering comments every time she opens her gob.
4. Davros said...
The country is in record debt. Exactly how many cash rich buyers are there out there? A handful, that's how many. With the lowest mortgage lending on record, they're not going to make a huge amount of difference.
5. monty032 said...
I meant the Times comments. It seems to be random whether they get passed or rejected. The comments on HPC work very well with the password feature.
6. paul said...
I see Anne Ashworth and Rebecca O'Connor have huddled together now for safety in numbers.
Like they say - everyones an experienced financial genius during a boom.
7. timmy t said...
"Property is acquiring safe-haven status" and “The risk element of property investment is beginning to be removed."
A couple of questions spring to mind:
1. Why do they only interview people whose careers rely on the property market?
2. What has happened to The Times? This is what you expect from The Sport - it's right up there with 'Elvis lives'
8. bluebeach said...
Nice one TT.... I used to look forward to a Friday afternoon in the FAT CAT bar with a good pint of Amstel and the Times' Bricks and Motar.....no more...the beer is still good though!.... a balanced view is no longer available in this rag when it comes to housing.
9. japanese uncle said...
Talking up the market by individual charlatans or by government (useless) fiscal measures at this stage, is quite like prescribing antidiarrheic for someone suffering badly for having eaten rotten steak. Let go the bad staff first which is the full-scale HPC which is the only remedy. Constipation can have much graver implications than diarrhea.
10. paul said...
JU, I'm glad I've eaten breakfast.
I think the government is applying the less used proverb "If the pot stinks, put a lid on it".
11. japanese uncle said...
Sorry about that
12. layers said...
Just wait until IRs shoot upwards in the next 12 months, then renting will be cheaper than paying your mortgage at 9 - 13% imo, and the value will have fallen another 15-20%. Cash buyers will be bargain hunting in q2 '10, I know I will be if things haven't totally fallen apart by then!
Oh, as I wasn't able to post a reply to the Joe Biden question that he wasn't an Israeli - here's his confession on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAZmO80dLfE
13. Spoonfed05 said...
she says savills predicted a 25% drop in prices yet on this site at the bottom of the homepage savills predict a RISE of 4%. which is correct (well i know which is correct, but what did savills actually predict?)? could they be adjusting their predictions to fit what's passed??
14. Lukeskywalker said...
Not sure if I'm correct, but to post on the Times comments, I make sure I copy and paste the link from here into a new browser window; a web site is actually able to read the source of the referring link. In other words, they know if you came from HPC .co.uk
Dunno about you, but if I was expecting all my articles to be picked up by sites like HPC, I'd try and stop them from flaming my comments box.
15. montesquieu said...
I don't know why anyone puts any store in The Times any more, it's been shite since the 80s when Murdoch bought it, the FT is the only reasonably objective, consistent rag around, the Grauniad and Torygraph are both OK if you don't like your opinions challenged, the Indie has been taken over by militant lesbian vegetarian cyclists (but fun to read now and again) the rest are in the gutter, without exception. Times is scarecly better than the Daily Wail these days.
16. inbreda said...
I'm sure we have all tried to post disparaging comments to the Times site, but in the last few hours only one new comment has appeared, suggesting prices are at their bottom and now is a good time to buy. They must have to sort through thousands of comments to find a gem like that!
17. timmy t said...
Layers@11 - I reckon renting is already cheaper. I moved in December (From rented to rented - last landlord wanted to sell - mug!) and we got a place I reckon would cost £600k to buy. We paid cash for 15 months up front and what we paid would get you a £300K house on a mortgage! And we have no capital depreciation. Who wants to buy anyway?
18. Father Ignatius Brown said...
There were two items from Ms Ashworth today - both gems - in particular I liked the phrase "Property is not fish - it doesn't go off." Which begs the question, why is the stench from stagnant and decaying properties that cannot be sold, let or maintained spreading across this land? Property has gone off so badly for so many people already that this statement can only be read as a sad case of desperate bravado.
I also liked her assertion that those with equity in their house see this "as the last chance to move to something grander" - more like move to something smaller so they can survive the crunch on what equity they can extract.
Finally you have to laugh at her assertion that there is a belief that catching a market that's 10% from bottom means you are doing well. Who's belief - hers - the estate agents' - people trying to feel good about losing another £20-30k before Christmas? She doesn't say. But most people I speak to agree that catching any asset when it has at least 10% and possibly 20% further to fall is simply a crap deal.
I have yet to see anything to suggest that this market has anywhere to go but down - when you look at the global macro-economic crisis you can see that we have a long way to go before there is any glimmer of a recovery. And to be fair to Ms Ashworth she does (after the admittedly bullish headline) quote more realistic comments that reflect this, for instance:
* Savills "is finding that buyers are prepared to deal if the prices are reduced by [25%]"
* Clutton's Mr Hyman insisted that "the market remains fragile" (smashed might be a more appropriate word)
* Savills' Ms Barnes said that "the process would not extend nationwide for a decade; prices will not be restored to their 2007 levels until as late as 2019 in some locations" (locations such as England, Ireland, Spain etc...?)
* Lee Watts, managing director of Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward,said that he is "seeing an increasing number of new properties coming to the market" (presumably rushing to get out before the market falls further?)
* And finally, "Estate agents know better than to see this sudden burst of bargain-hunting as a new dawn" - but that won't stop them issuing press releases hinting that the sun is up and shining brightly.
Blessing
Father Ignatius Brown
19. will said...
and so I expect house prices can rise another 300% over the next 6 or 7 years - It all make perfect sense to me!
20. layers said...
timmy t@14 - In general I agree that it is too - and I wished I'd thought of fixing my rent in a lump sum as you did (recently moved into a brand new house in London and are paying a lot in rent, but it did come down in price quite a bit), but I meant for those 'fortunate' few who are on tracker mortgages and now pay only a few pounds a month, because I'm sure this zero-rate interest policy wont last (but then that's probably my wishful thinking!). And as for renting, the new place has had loads of things go wrong with it so far - so am really glad it ain't my headache!
21. timmy t said...
Layers - go back and make them an offer now for 12 months. Obviously don't know who your landlord is but just be careful that they aren't going to go bust and get the place repossessed leaving you without a home and out of pocket. Our place is owned by a company and they were happy to take a hit on the total amount in return for cashflow benefit. Many landlords out there might be feeling the same way. Let's face it, it's not earning you any interest!
22. Fed Up said...
montesquieu @12, oh come now, the Times isn't that bad on the odd occasion that the comments aren't too heavily censored, though these two property porn mistresses are so predictable that there isn't much sport in baiting them.
23. doomwatch said...
Her greed is only surpassed by her stupidity.