88Crash

Expect a lot more promotion for New Home Companies EA's are still trying to convince themselves and anyone else who will listen the market will pick (spring bounce etc,) New Homes companies already know what is happening The figures I quoted earlier are from OCTOBER (bit of a time lag before they publically report) The big volume builders are looking at their January figures as we speak Doubt if it indicates a spring bounce!

Prices are starting to drop Call it what you want but 1K per month towards your mortgage is a 24k drop Remember that in the last crash most of the big UK housebuilders were in essence family businesses Now the BIG 4 all flog 1 billion pounds worth of homes AND unlike Estate Agents they actually own their 'stock' - They have to sell regardless of market conditions Check out the property press this weekend and you will see lots of New Homes offers (price falls)

If you think Mortgage Approvals are bad - New Homes reservations were down 52% in October July -19 August -31 September -32 October -52 Activity in the month compared with the same month a year ago (balance*) The HBF survey is based on responses from over 400 companies across all regions of Great Britain weighted to take account of their size. * Balance: % reporting an increase less % reporting a decrease (GB) HBF = House Builders Federation

OK some police don't do their jobs properly, But the majority of British police do a good job (certainly compared to many of the countries I visit) I should also add that self certs and other variations probably fall into two groups 1. Multiple dodgy applications by BTL'ers for financial gain 2. People (especially youngster's) that cannot afford to buy a HOME unless they exagerate their income A lot of police would have sympathy for the latter As for 5 years in prison for mortgage fraud - if a joyrider with 20 previous convictions kills another road user, they would probably get less than 5 years!

On the subject of going to prison, you may and I stress MAY find the following in the REAL WORLD The Police prefer to spend their time catching criminals They consider 'dodgy mortgages' to be more of a civil matter They would also have to prosecute far too many mortgage advisors (as undercover documentries have shown us) If it wasn't for the fact that these advisors are 'independant' they would also have to prosecute quite a few board directors of our banks and building societies THEN theres all the people that have inflated their salaries on 'regular mortgages' WHAT about credit card applications? Wait a minute - the police would have to put half the poulation in prison! What was that about our prisons being overcrowded