Friday, May 29, 2009
How the news would look if not for ramping
Guardian: Fears grow of house prices spiral
Patrick Collinson imagines what house price stories might look like if Britain wasn't under the sway of estate agents
Posted by sybil13 @ 12:42 PM (1170 views) Add Comment
8 Comments
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1. little professor said...
Ha ha, this is a brilliant article:
Fears of a renewed house price spiral were growing today after figures from Nationwide building society showed an alarming 1.2% rise in the cost of the average British home. The increase, the worst in 19 months, provoked warnings that the Bank of England will be forced to raise interest rates, choking off an early recovery in the economy.
It is the second time in three months that Nationwide has reported worse-than-expected inflation figures. After nearly two years in which house prices have moderated, there are signs the reductions enjoyed by millions of buyers may soon be over.
The three-month on three-month rate of change – a smoother indicator of price trends – fell from a welcome -3.0% in April to just -0.5% in May. Hopes that prices would return to sustainable long-term averages also appear to be waning: Nationwide said the average house in Britain now costs £154,016, close to seven times median income.
An economist at the Good Building Society said: "First-time buyers will be understandably dismayed at today's figures, which will force many to take on huge and possibly unsustainable loans to purchase a property.
2. flintster1994 said...
Excellent!
3. charlie brooker said...
Agreed. I'm quite sure Patrick is an HPCer.
Posters here have long complained about media bias. Great to see that has finally been turned on its head!
4. denzil said...
Many bloggers on here correctly predicted a bounce during the Spring months. I don't believe we are seeing the bottom of the market yet, due to a lack of mortgage availability. If the completely constipated mortgage market kicks into life the bottom of the market may not be too far off. I still believe property is still over-valued but sentiment and the goal of home ownership are strong drivers.
If the following two factors reverse I do believe prices will bottom soon after-
- Job Security
- Lack of mortgage availability.
If the above two points do reverse I'd be interested in hearing why prices will continue to fall.
5. sybil13 said...
Denzil I would be really interested to hear where you think the extra £200bn a year gap in mortgage lending due to the RMBS market being closed is going to come from ? With lenders now reliant on deposits and interest rates not attracting savers and downgrades resulting in councils etc withdrawing funds and lenders having to now balance books and factor in risk it is hard to see where the extra mortgage money is going to come from. As for Job Security can't see that changing any time soon either. One thing that will change soon and will have a BIG effect on property prices is interest rates, that is more likely to reverse surely than the two factors you listed.
6. Yogibear123 said...
sadly the RMBS gap is being plugged with taxpayer cash....
I want my taxes back :-)
7. Greenshootsandleaves said...
Priceless! This sort of article would send Mr Collinson straight to the bottom of my proposed Ramp-Art Trophy League Table (suggestion currently hidden away in Forum backwater (see link below). Why not lend it some support by giving your reactions to the idea? It would be nice to see the league leaders, and I'm sure we can all guess who they would be - given the unwelcome recognition they deserve).
Come to think of it, might not Mr Collinson be kicked out of the competition altogether, along with the lovely Merryn?
http://www.housepricecrash.co.uk/forum/index.php?s=f0fb4f62bbdd0a111adb43e12d8dff84&showtopic=111687
(Plea to moderator: can the link be made clickable?)
8. mander said...
Is Britain under the influence of estate agents? Of cource it is!
It all depends on which side David Cameron will be. On the first time buyers side making sure the market is not manipulated buy investors and estate agents or on the speculators side where not much is being built and buying up the existing housing stock.