Tuesday, Sep 14, 2010
Good news everyone - housing set to get cheaper
BBC: Surveyors expect property values to fall
The BBC still tries to slip in an unsubstantiated bit of vested interest speculation towards the end of the article but the tone is unmistakeably muted meaning only one thing - bad news for aspirationally priced property owners. Good effort BBC - the intensity of your bias has moved from egregious to appalling.
Posted by paul @ 08:24 AM (1034 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. righttoleech said...
'Property prices can differ depending on location' - not much gets past these media muppets!
2. Shupufski said...
I saw that!
Is that all they can say now?
3. holding out said...
It's always nice to have a majority believing what will happen in the future concurs with what you personally want to happen. That doesn't mean that is what will happen. I notice it says "A bigger proportion of surveyors are expecting house prices to fall in the coming months than at any time since March last year" - that shows they are just following a trend as March 09 was around the previous low and prices started to recover after that. Still you can show it to the Mrs and it keeps her quiet (for a bit)
4. holding out said...
That wasn't meant to be a double-entendre
5. techieman said...
well i've read it - and i cant see any bias at all. its also at the top of their business stories. its not exactly detailed, more of a soundbite really.
also it has a couple of links. the first http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11164697 seems quite balanced. Perhaps this once http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11164971 less so.
im not sure why you worry yourself with the BBC's reporting being biased. is it because you dont like what they say or is it because they are pandering to your other favourites the baby boomers, or is it because you object because you have to pay for a view that may or may not be consistent with you own? personally i couldnt care less what the BBC, Grant Bovey, Peter Bolton estate agent Ray Boulger , the candy brothers or what any of the others say or think - its all herding after all and thats what we as a race do.
Teenage angst paul? never mind its all part of growing up dear boy. really you should read what you say and see how it comes across to thise with no axe to grind.
6. uncle tom said...
techie,
Agreed - the BBC used to sign up to the idea that rising house prices were a good thing, but now they are pretty much neutral on the subject - as they should be..
7. Mark Wadsworth said...
RTL: "'Property prices can differ depending on location'"
That's the funny thing - what economists refer to as Ricardo's Law of Rent (which led him on to the conclusion that LVT is a non-distortinary and entirely fair tax) the Home-Owner-Ists refer to as "Location, Location, Location" (and therefore ultimately that the main purpose of the state is to spend as much taxpayers' money as possible on improving location values). Same observation, completely different conclusions.
8. cyril said...
I expect the surveyors generally don't care what happens to prices at the moment but they want volumes to pick up so they get more instructions.
9. techieman said...
UT - yes but then we should ask is the BBC a reflection of what the masses think or is the masses a reflection of what the BBC thinks? in that way does actually the bbc becoming neutral indicate a change of trend? its all a bit chicken and egg.
Maybe the BBC was full of BTLrts and over extended home owner who trimmed their portfolios / STR'd during the move back up and perhaps thats why they have moved - perhaps they will move further. In short how they are doesnt interest me but if (and what) they reflect does.
Cyril - surely volumes will only pick up if mortgage funds are more plentiful or if FTB do want to get on "the ladder" by , for example, lower prices. the best thing for them would be increases in SVRs and some forced sellers, instilling a little bit of panic?
10. str 2007 said...
"The latest set of results suggest prices in many parts of the country may be slipping but this does appear to be encouraging hopes amongst surveyors that sales levels could begin to pick up as a result," said Rics spokesman Jeremy Leaf
I think this is the sentence that was being referred to.
I'm sure the surveyors have encouraging hopes, but it could also be percieved as clutching at straws.
Don't forget after the last price falls of near 20%, interest rates were also dropped 80-90%. That made a huge sudden difference.
This time we've got used to that level of interest rate and now fear the rise - it can only be getting closer afterall.
So what I ask is the catalyst that will suddenly increase volume ?
Can anyone think of anything up the sleeves of government/bankers to suddenly boost things along ?
I posted elsewhere about a 7% BTL return on a Flat bringing current value down from about £150k to £110k. (27%).
Apply that 7% BTL return to detatched properties in my area and what would be currently £450k gaining £1400 per month rent - the value should be in the region of £225k (some 50% off).
I wouldn't expect that to happen, but it shows how out of sync things have become.
11. str 2007 said...
techieman
(Cyril - surely volumes will only pick up if mortgage funds are more plentiful)
About 50% of mortgages in the last 2-3 years of the boom were Self Cert (no doubt on interest only), And now volume is less than 1/2 what it was then (surprise, surprise).
I also think some FTBers were taking out BTL mortgages and then living in th eproperty themselves (deposit requirements in the BTL sector have also increased dramatically along with arangement fees).
To that end I don't see funds being plentiful as the issue so much as the 'qualification' for those funds.
To conclude, they can turn the printing press on, but unless they suddenly go back to interest only and 5% deposits I don't see what id there to drve the housing market anymore.