hpc-craig

I've been looking for an estate agency trade publication. These usually tell it how it is, as the public will rarely read such publications. Sounds pretty dire to me. ANyway, further reading around that site revealed this: Humberts shares suspended The statement added the suspension was only temporary, but trading in the shares on the Alternative Investment Market still had not resumed at the time of going to press. Humberts run 80 offices and employ about 700 staff and expanded rapidly during the boom years of 2006-7. Property entrepreneur Vincent Tchenguiz, who owns over 20 per cent of the shares, has been rumoured as a possible bidder for Humberts as he already owns the Chestertons agency. source: http://www.estateagencynews.co.uk/news/news-0608c.asp

Sometimes you have t trust your gut instinct. I have my money with Icesave and Halifax, and I have worried about both recently. I will almost certainly be opening an account with Nationwide, becasue they 'feel' safe. They are one of the few that I look at and don't get queasy. They are offering 6% on a 1 year fixed bond. or 5% on a variable e-saver, so their rates aren't terrible. I'd also give a vote for Natwest, Lloyds and HSBC. All of which I would consider safe.

Exactly. Why are people allowed to build on sites like this if the soil isn't safe.

Great find. Lokk at this on their homepage Look at their source. The Daily Express. If they say prices won't crash then it must be true. Grey Shark, are they local to you?

So we are looking at LR YOY -ve in July or August by my reckoning. The other 2 indices will be -ve 7 or 8% by then. (posssibly more)

You must mean this: $300k houses going for $145 (look at what you get for the money). Look at how pissed the people that bought prior to the auction are!!

Likewise, I have a 6 month bond and my ISA with them. I'll be investigating a different ISA tomorrow. I know it's supposedly safe, and up until a couple of weeks ago I've been fine with it, but then I've been having this niggling feeling in my mind.

Eric, It may be on 4OD if you have it, or C4+1 is where I intend to catch it. The EA's know they won't challenge them, so its an easy plug for them. We need them to be interviewed by a prime HPC member. Really tear them to pieces, I'd love to see an EA cry on national TV.

I didn't realise he had such a big VI with his silly property club website. Look at the poncy b@stard sat in the bath. That money hasn't come from property, it's come from idiots signing up to the inner circle. He obviously doesn't trust the banks hence the bath

Thomas, I still live at home and am also 23. I am looking forward to moving out, but I am willing to stay here for a while longer. I have also persuaded my girlfriend to stay with her parents. The whole reason I discovered HPC was when we were looking for a house and I soon discovered how out of kilt house prices were with wages. This website prevented me from buying a house last summer, which would have been disastrous. If you can bare it, the rewards can be good. I've saved a lot of money compared to most people my age, all of my friends have debt to pay off. I didn't go to uni and decided to start my own business. ANyway, best of luck in whatever you do. There is more to life than money after all and I know many people who have happily rented all their lives.

I'm a fellow Bee lover too. I'm waiting for the day when there is a whole page of drops (i.e. all 10 peoperties on the page have been reduced). The most I've come across thus far is 6. Can anyone better that? Edit: Pants spelling.

I've noticed a similar recovery in My Stocks and Shares ISA, held with Halifax. It bottomed out at 5% down on 22nd March and has been up and down ever since. I keep a daily tally. I have had my form ready to send back since last week and today it was up £50 on Friday, and with the FTSE doing well today, I put it in the post. They should receive it and hopefully sell tomorrow. I am expecting to see it back below 6000 before the Autumn is out, probably due to point number 2 in RB's list, bad retail sales. Incidentally, Realistbear, I think you are on the nose with that list. I work in retail, and we have been on a downhill slope since Christmas. Our 'Spring Bounce' lasted 2 weeks. I just hope I'll make it through with a job still intact (I work in a small DIY shop, could even thrive as people try and keep value by doing up their houses?)

Hey Lepista, It would make an interesting graph and I for one would like to see it if you do go ahead with it. I think it would quash the supply vs demand figures. The best I could find is the number of properties coming on to the market each month. This data is contained on the first page of the Rightmove Reports, under the graph: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/template/public...CRTPRArchive.vm As for properties sold, the land registry keeps a track in their report: http://www1.landregistry.gov.uk/assets/lib...ents/280508.pdf on page 11. You'll probably have to look at each monthly report for the monthly figures. It could also be worth including mortgage approvals from the Bank of England. Looking at the latest Rightmove and Land Registry reports, 137,000 properties were listed but only 81,000 were sold. (from memory, don't shoot me down if im wrong )

Imp, Don't let it get you down. About 6 weeks ago, about 6 houses went SSTC on Rightmove. Only 1 has actually put the 'Sold' sign up outside the house, the others are all still for sale. I think it must be problems arranging mortages and chains etc. The thing is, houses have to sell for the crash to happen. Otherwise things could stagnate to infinity. Lets hope the buyers in Aylesbury negotiated some good discounts. It'll drag the prices of the houses around it down around it. Even if the vendors of neighbouring properties aren't aware of the 'sold' price, any mortgage company will know the price and give a mortgage according to latest sales, forcing the vendor to reduce their asking price. It's this knock on effect that will give push house prices down and give us the crash Its better to have a few houses selling than none at all.

I was thinking of this last night. I think it will be more like 2 months. Nothing is selling where I am and Estate Agents are starting to cut back. My local one has stopped advertising on the front page of the local advertiser for the first time ever. Once they've cut back all they can, they'll be really pushing sellers. This same estate agent probably has 7 staff. Lets assume they get £1000 each each month, that is incomings of £0 and outgoings of £7000. The EA's will be out of a job pronto unless they sell, in which case they'll be pushing the sellers like crazy to lower prices. On the topic of falling prices, a local one to me (Gloucestershire) was on 1t £695,000, it was reduced to £595,000 and has been lowered further to £575,000. It's a very nice house in a nice location, so those at the top aren't immune.

Might be a good time to withdraw my ISA from Icesave then. It's a shame as (from my experienece) they have fantastic customer service and the service in general is good. It works as it should. Certain UK banks would do well to taek note on this front.

God it makes me mad! IS there hope for house prices? Is there hope that people will have to stretch themselves further and take on crippling debts for the rest of their lives?? Is their hope that people can hold on to their 'paper wealth'? WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE? They are blinded by the equity they have earnt (probably got a few btl's too). She is such a selfish bint. There is hope for House prices as they are FALLING. I can't believe she gets paid to write this nonsense </rant>

Me too, although I have my eye on Northern France more than anything.

The poles are flocking from my town. I was stunned to see the house (that this time last year was home to about 8 Poles) had an English family in! The local farmers are advertising for cherry pickers etc and the largest local employer (a 24hr factory) has told me that his workforce are leaving (many have been there for years). Just got the local advertiser through the door and there are a lot of houses to rent. Could be unrelated, but I suspect not. Could be looking at a rent price crash too.

You're better off at nearly £9050. Don't forget National Insurance.

Ok, I've done a few sums and the people on the lowest wages are still worse off. If you earn between £7050 and £9050 per year you will still be worse off even with your 'rebate'. Stick £9050 in at http://www.listentotaxman.com/ and you will see you will be 50p a year worse off. Some people in between will be as much as £30 worse off.

Hey Rob, Glad to know there are some other HPC advocates in the area. People tell me this area won't crash as its too highly sought after. How big is the huntley development? I haven't been there in a while, so can't say I've seen it. The flats in Newent, at the old bennions garage aren't selling. In fact they have sold none - That's straight from the horses mouth too. Looks like the North Forest isn't as crash proof as they all think.

Is that the new flats by the new quayside development? Was that Persimmon doing that? What about all those new house along the A38 before the Junction onto the M5? There must be a complete oversupply there. We could do with a Gloucestershire thread on the regional section, as a lot of developments seem to be stopping.

Rob, where abouts are you in Glos? I am from Newent and think I know the development you mean (Top of Bury Bar Lane? - http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-186...3&tr_t=buy). They are being advertised for sale, but the site looks a mess, and there are signs from 2 agents now, it looks like a target practice. And Krusty related, these are now being advertised Stamp duty free but they still aren't selling. Stamp duty isn't the problem Kirsty - Having to pay £179,000 for a 2 bedroom end terrace (see link above) IS THE PROBLEM.

She claims she is interested in property and People. She doesn't give a stuff about anyone other than herself and her property portfolio. I am glad I wasn't born into a rich family with a silver spoon in every oraphace if this how I would have turned out.