NeilP

Friday of last week I went into town (It's not very often I do this during tourist season) and on my travels I walked past four estate agents. They were all empty, members of staff sitting around doing nothing, talking amongst themselves. Nobody looking at the ads in the windows either.

http://www.housepricecrash.co.uk/forum/ind...t&p=1205804

Where was this reported? Given, Old Hill is a dump, but there are other areas in Cornwall much more poverty stricken. Quite ironic really as it overlooks the Marina with all those floating caravans worth a fortune.

Mixed feelings here. We can now look forward to owning a property in a few years. As soon as the cost of a mortgage comes within, say 20% more than what we are paying in rent then yes, we may buy. But to be honest, do we want to? Not sure. We have friends who are self emplyed and they are struggling. I am supposed to be over in the Scillies as I type, crewing a boat for 5 days for a friend. It was cancelled at the last minute. He has lost over £5k this weekend, this is the worst year he has had. The tourist industry, or lack of it this year, is affecting many people I know. No longer do we meet in the local for a few beers on a Friday night - it's grab a four pack (or two) from the local shop and go around someones house. Even pubs are too expensive to go to. Job-wise, I think that we have 'safeguarded' ourselves as much as we can. We are both Public Sector workers, LG and NHS. I can't see the areas that we work in being streamlined, cut back on, so, 'touch wood', we hopefully will be ok. House prices are no longer talked about though between us and our friends. Whenever I mention it the subject changes. I wonder why! So I'm not stockpiling on cans or getting a gun licence just yet, but who knows? I don't like the uncertainty. Not one bit.

Local Radio this lunchtime, phone in program, had some EA (I think) bleating on about selling apartments in a new development in Newquay. You get a free car upon completion, dontcha know? Prices start at £150k and you get a Smart Car. The most expensive is £1.5m and you get a Mercedes. Then she came out with the line; '..When people come down to their second home it would be ideal to have a car waiting for them in the garage....' I turned off at this point as she was winding me up. I STILL can't believe that EA are promoting second homes down here. :angry: There is an open day in Newquay on August 1st when details of what cars are to be given to the other apartments are available.

Eye Candy. EDIT: Blonde moment.

NHS and possibly CCC are the only places you think you get any chance of job security down here, as the two largest employers in the county. RCHT had a bumpy ride a year or two ago and seems to have got away lightly. CCC is a different story. There will be ALOT of job losses within the next 12 months. It's grim - just like the weather we are having at the moment! (Looking out a window at work as I type this - bloody horizontal rain in July!)

The market is very, very slow down here at the moment, just like everywhere else. Price falls are starting to increase - I think most are out of the denial stage and more into the 'If we don't talk about it it'll go away' stage. Truro is no different - a very quiet market and falls starting to appear.......

Our next door neighbours work there- both of them in the same store. They gave a couple of the 20% off vouchers to us but we never use M&S. Well if M&S sales are down, does this mean the end to those annoying M&S food adverts that are on all the time? :angry: Atleast that would save them a fair bit!

The end of the first cycle of the Maya Calender......... ....I remember back in 1996/97 there was some talk that the world would end with a specific time and I was there at my student job at British gas watching the time come...............and pass...............and here we still are. Many different faiths/cultures have their own view on this, and their own dates/time scales for the end of the world. I would have thought that we are at the risk of an asteroid wiping us all out more than anything else. Still, if this is the case, and if it's gonna happen in 2012, surely it would have been spotted by now. Maybe it has, and there is a group of deep drilling specialists being taken off an oil rig and being trained up by Nasa right now as I type.

Asda in Penryn have run out of Petrol, together with Jet at Treluswell and Esso in Falmouth. I didn't think they would so quickly. Ps. Anyone want to buy a 2001 1.6 Ford Focus Zetec?

Are they still in talks to try and sort this out?

They're going nuts in India amongst other countries......and that's over a 10% rise http://news.sky.com/skynews/picture_galler...1318641,00.html

No, I haven't noticed any queues longer than normal at all. I have noticed that 2 garages have had bags over unleaded pumps, these are Esso and Jet. I don't think it's panic buying that's caused it though, just awaiting deliveries maybe. I think the outcome of the last minute talks that are taking place will determine what we see at the garage forecourts tomorrow.

It doesn't affect us down here, we are cut off from the rest of the uk, dontchaknow? ....................NOT!

If we get a price correction of 40-50% over the next few years, I for one will be very, very happy. There is a nice 3 bedroomed semi up the road from me that has been on the market for about 6 months or so now - £225k. It would be fantastic that these sort of properties might be in the reach for us with still having money to live. There are still an aweful lot of the 'they won't reduce a great deal' brigade around though, regardless of what the media say. I think they might be in for a shock...... ....especially the stupid bint I work with who remortgaged to have a new kitchen and conservatory fitted because she thinks she's 'posh'

Oh, ok. Guess I better stop moaning about it then..........

Slightly off-topic but on a similar note - I work for the NHS. Although there are pool cars, we tend to find it easier to use our own when going to sites throughout the county. When I started here, 6 years ago, I got 54p a mile. This is for the cost of fuel, wear and tear, etc. I am not sure what the cost of a litre of petrol was then. Now, guess what we get - 54p a mile still. Needless to say I very rarely go on visits nowadays. Partner is a Social Worker and racks up about 300 miles a week on visits. She only gets 30 something pence a mile.

Yes. I used to use the car to pop to the cashpoint, grab some beer maybe from Tesco's on an evening. Now I cycle or walk. Travelling of a weekend is now a once in a while job too. A couple of years ago I was up in Plymouth alot of weekends on diving trips - I wouldn't even dream of that now with the cost of fuel........hang on a minute, I need to take my partner up there on Sunday......hmmmm......I'll make sure she pays for the fuel methinks! I don't have a 'big' car - just a 1.6 Focus. I am seriously thinking about trading it in and getting something smaller.

I always said that once it gets to £1 a litre (petrol) I would stop driving to work. I didn't. Then I said I would stop at £1.05, I didn't. Now that it is £1.10 I have. Sort of. The problem is getting from home to work and vice versa and fitting the hours I have to work with picking our daughter up from school. It's a 12 mile trip one way and public transport is a no-no. What I have done is to drive to a little village about half way between the two, then cycle the rest of the way through the lanes. Still early days as I have only started this week, but all good so far.

Back to the OP - Shipping has to bunker fuel for movement up the channel already. We have seen a huge increase in vessels out in the bay due to this, more info here: http://www.shippingtimes.co.uk/item971_bunkers.htm

It's now listing 40 degrees and Rose is trying to find Jack, who's handcuffed to the ship because he went on a BTL binge over the past 8 years...............

Tresawls road. I drive along it twice a day to and from work (RCHT), however I do go through the lanes so tend to miss most of it. It is supposed to all change with the Park and ride (Not holding my breath!). Any new builds will only add to the traffic hell!

6000 new homes in Gloweth area of Truro? I can't see it myself, especially as the population of Truro is about 20k. That figure just doesn't seem right.

We have already have the University College Falmouth. What you might have heard was that a new Dental school is being constructed (as I speak, 50m from where I am sitting right now) on site at Royal Cornwall Hospital, in Truro.