Tuesday, Jul 28, 2009
More bottom-picking
Telegraph: Skipton calls bottom of housing market
Skipton Building Society has called the bottom of the housing market, and is forecasting growth in profits this year in spite of a prediction of "further bumps along the road to recovery".
Speaking after the society reported first-half profits of £17m, David Cutter, chief executive, said: "Our view is that house prices have bottomed out, but we remain cautious." He said indicators at Connells, the group's 460-branch estate agent, "suggest we've hit bottom, but it will depend on unemployment".
Posted by little professor @ 07:38 PM (1038 views) Add Comment
8 Comments
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1. another alan said...
With all this talk of recovery and 'green shoots' with regard to house prices and the economy, can anyone tell me a fairly simple way to bet against these claims and this optimism?
I'd love to investigate "sticking my money where my mouth is" i.e. we haven't seen anything yet...
2. alan said...
as they said..."but it will depend on unemployment".
...and BoE interest rates??
3. str 2007 said...
another alan
Not buying a house is a fairly good hedge - leveraged depending on how you look at it. I wouldn't be much greedier than that incase you're wrong.
You may find you could take out a bet on future movements if you can't resist. Maybe William Hill would give you good odds at the moment while optimism is high.
4. icarus said...
On betfair there's a market where you bet on something called the National Standard Price of houses each month.
5. greenshootsandleaves said...
This cannot possibly be the same David Cotter who, according to the Yorkshire Post (17th April 2009), was expressing shock and dismay at Skipton BS being downgraded by a ratings agency 'amid concerns about [its] exposure to falling house prices'.
http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/businessnews/Mutuals39-anger-at-credit-ratings.5179988.jp
6. timmy t said...
Anyone been in a Connell's? It's always the bottom of the market in my local one! Even when the market was good everything in there was 40% cheaper than everywhere else. If they reduced them any more they'd be paying people to take them away.
7. paul said...
I honestly thought the Skipton was already bankrupt.
Asking them whether its the bottom of the housing market yet is like asking a near-bankrupt hairdresser whether now is a good time to get a perm.
8. growler said...
Skipton have a few ways to tidy up their balance sheet. Loans to business versus loans to property. Given business is all over the place, tough conditions and security on a pile of bricks has to be better (assuming nice prudent LTV, plus fees, etc). So guess what: let's talk the market up and see if we can get a few customers to help our books