Tuesday, Aug 11, 2009
The retuen of an old chestnut ZZZzzzzzzzzzz
BBC News: House shortage 'props up prices'
''A shortage of homes for sale in the UK propped up property prices in July, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics). In further signs of improved market sentiment, only 8% more surveyors reported seeing price falls than those who said the cost of homes increased''
Posted by hpwatcher @ 08:09 AM (1356 views) Add Comment
15 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. hpwatcher said...
Sorry, meant to write 'Return of an old chestnut'.
The real shortage is of vendors who aren't completely greedy.
2. mrflibble said...
There is only so long they can keep this Polish blanket trick going now before it becomes apparent, even to the average man on the street, that the housing boom is over, finished, caput, none functional, and we are not heading back to the happy days of endlessly rising prices, at least not anytime soon.
3. Acceleratorhams said...
As usual it is those with a vested interest, sucking impressional young people into the market and handing them a 10-20% negative equity situation for the next x years.
Will Wrigglesworth, or Bulgy Boulger or Stuart Law be buying now? I doubt it!
4. Shavedchimp said...
....and yet, at the moment, the bulls seem to have the most prominent headlines...is sentiment being wrested away?
5. quiet guy said...
As I've said before, there appears to be no shortage of properties when I look in my local newspaper or estate agent's window. It's all about prices.
6. Kernowoggie said...
I think there are many people like myself who want to sell up and move but are playing a waiting game. We purchased our home in June 2004 for £197,000.00. However, we have spent at least £80,000.00 extending it and improving it. Not a case of being greedy but we do want to at least break even. We also own a further property that we let out as a holiday cottage, so it is a business rather than a second home. We work very hard to make a modest profit on that but at least it provides a better return than if the sum were invested, interest rates being what they now are. We want to move away from Cornwall back to the midlands but are determined not to lose out. Even if it takes years we will sit it out. I am sure there are many more like us. That creates a shortage of properties to buy and it is all about supply and demand. However, I see properties around that have been up for sale for months, so maybe that isn't the whole story.
7. Nesquick said...
I've noticed a real shortage of properties in central London (N1, NW1) where I've been looking. The same horrid flats on the market for months, maybe longer than a year with no takers despite some (albeit minor) price reductions. When something good comes on the market it is snapped up within a fortnight even at ridiculously high pricing (e.g. 350K one bed flat in Islington under offer within 2 weeks) simply because there's very little out there. Few want to sell at the moment. That's just the way it is. Until interest rates rise, they won't feeling any urgency.
8. down wave said...
Again from http://www.propertysnake.co.uk/
Welcome to propertysnake.co.uk, your source for reduced house prices across the UK. Updated daily, our database currently contains 147,589 reduced prices, at reductions of up to 55.79%.
To give you a taste, the top 10 price reductions are given in the table opposite. Click on the links to view the full price history of a specific house.
9. mark wadsworth said...
Anecdotal, a house in my area sold for £380,000 recently - the one two doors up has been on the market for £485,000 for about a year and ain't moving.
There are two more a bit further up the road, which were £575,000 and £599,000 respectively, they've been on for a year as well, the former (which briefly had a 'Sold' sign up before agents changed) has now come down to £525,000 asking.
They're nice houses and everything (nothing too special), but that's half a million quid for crying out loud! That's like a lifetime's salary for a median worker (net of income tax).
10. vacuouspolitician said...
mark wadsworth @5
Yes I keep seeing the same thing in my area. It really leaves me feeling cold. Nice houses... but 500K+ is scary. There is no major industry where I live (only agriculture) ...so I keep wondering where all the money is coming from...?
11. vacuouspolitician said...
I just wonder if there are huge amounts of cash sat in bank accounts (from people selling at the top of the market back in 2007) ?...the government/BoE will know this and actively encourage people to release it ...they do this by making this cash get poor returns in those accounts. In doing this perhaps they think some of the weaker thinking people will spend it on "bargain" housing. It's sort of Government/BoE "Baldrick" thinking..."I have a cunning plan meee lord...". Who knows perhaps the more strong minded and mentally tough aren't suckered into doing this will get the real bargains several years down the line?
12. This comment has been removed as it was found to be in breach of our Blog Policies.
13. mander said...
No No No,
They can not fool the first time buyers on to the property ladder with this shortage story anymore. There are 3.9 million properties for rent. How many buyers are out there active and looking?
It is the elder bubble mentality after they have enjoyed 300% equity rise they wrongly advice their childen to do the same.
Sorry but it does not make economic sense.
14. greenshootsandleaves said...
mark w @5 said: '(...) but that's half a million quid for crying out loud! That's like a lifetime's salary for a median worker (...)'
Don't worry, I think I read somewhere that the new rules will allow banks to lend up to 3.5 times lifetime salary.
15. vacuouspolitician said...
mander @8
...no stats or figures to check = no chance of investigating = glib headlines = simpletons removing money from bank accounts = spending on over-inflated and rubbish housing stock...
50+ generation are the problem...more money than sense.