bearishonhouses

I think those flats are listed multiple times because there are 59 of them for sale. Studio, one, and two bedrooms. I suspect the 225k is for the studio size and the one and two beds are even more outrageous.

While I agree with your general hypothesis, I think you cannot learn much simply by looking at the level of the S&P500. Profits are now considerably higher than they were in those early years, and so can support higher stock prices. What is more informative is the ratio of prices to earnings - in particular, Robert Shiller's index of prices to 'average earnings of the last 10 years'. See: https://www.multpl.com/shiller-pe This chart suggests prices are still too high, but at present, maybe not as much as prior to the crash of the internet bubble.

I guess I have a different interpretation of 'quiet'. From: http://www.extrium.co.uk/noiseviewer.html

well, it didn't sell for 75k nor even 175k. So they have apparently put it back on the market at guide price 295k - ( https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/121763048#/?channel=RES_NEW) instead of the old. 175k ( https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/120031196#/?channel=RES_BUY) well, why not!

well, it didn't sell for 75k nor even 175k. So they have apparently put it back on the market at guide price 295k - ( https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/121763048#/?channel=RES_NEW) instead of the old. 175k ( https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/120031196#/?channel=RES_BUY) well, why not!

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/121196993# Almost, but not quite, 20% reduction in less than 1 month. otoh, given that the asking price is >100% the purchase price in 2019, the price is not a bargain and perhaps these greedy bar stewards will soon be reducing further. (It looks as if major work was done in last two years - hard to believe it cost more than 150k.)

I am in agreement with your scepticism about the way trusts are currently being used to hold London property but I think there are some valid reasons for the existence of Trusts. Prime examples: 1) trustees hold assets for the benefit of those who do not have the capacity to make wise decisions about the the assets by age or infirmity etc, 2) trustees hold assets to separate the income from the capital appreciation - parent dies, leaves estate in trust with income paid to surviving spouse for their lifetime and capital on death to children of former marriage/dogs home etc. But it seems to me that the vast majority of the legitimate benefits of trusts would not be precluded if anonymity of beneficiaries was outlawed. And for discretionary trusts, then _all_ potential beneficiaries should be required to be named. If not at the time of forming the trust, then whenever any benefit is received by them. For real estate, couple this with a value-based property tax that can be offset against UK income taxes paid by an owner occupier who is using that address as their UK residence (and thus, they typically would have a UK tax liability for worldwide income).

and last sold in April 2021 for £725k! and on a main road and likely to be adjacent to a building site for the next two years (or more). How can we resist?

more doom and gloom (aka encouraging news) here: https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Markets/Property/Woes-of-Chinese-property-developers-multiply extract: "HONG KONG -- Chinese developer Zhenro Properties Group had a lousy January. Contracted sales for the Shanghai-based homebuilder tumbled just under 30% that month from the year before, on par with the drop recorded by many of its peers in recent months. But last month the troubles of Zhenro, among the largest issuers of junk bonds in Asia in 2021, got much more serious. Investors dumped its stock and bonds ahead of its confirmation that it would not have the cash to follow through on a promise it made in January to redeem a $200 million perpetual bond on March 5. Two international credit rating agencies slashed their assessments of the company's debt, signaling that they saw a very high risk it would soon default........... ...Yango, which has yet to disclose sales for February, had said a month before that the property sector was "falling off the cliff. With sales of homes plunging, Chinese developers are scrambling to sell bigger assets. R&F last week agreed to sell a London development site to Hong Kong developer Far East Consortium International for 95.7 million pounds ($125.4 million) while noting it would record a loss on the deal of 68.85 million pounds."

If it does, no-one will be happier than me.

I think this 'reduction' is misleading. I suspect they have gone from 'offer for sale' at 250k to 'auction with a guide price (starting bid) of 175k. I would be surprised if both lots sell for less than 250k, and not surprised if, combined, they go for more than 300.

In general, real estate taxes in US are between 0.7% and 2% of 'assessed' value of property. However, apparently, these assessed values are based on the capitalized value of the attainable rental income. And, since there is no transparent rental market for these luxury residences, in Manhattan, the real estate taxes on a $100m condominium in one of the new ultra-thin skyscrapers overlooking Central Park might be as low as $100,000 (or 0.1%) rather than approx $1m. e.g. https://www.redfin.com/NY/New-York/432-Park-Ave-10022/home/109654966 asking price $170m, annual taxes $178k 0.1% of value. (But even so - a damn sight more than would be payable in Westminster)

I find the easiest source of data to deal with is at yahoo's finance site. (e.g. https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/GBPUSD%3DX/history?period1=1070150400&period2=1647216000&interval=1mo&filter=history&frequency=1mo&includeAdjustedClose=true ) and https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/BTC-USD/history?period1=1410825600&period2=1647216000&interval=1mo&filter=history&frequency=1mo&includeAdjustedClose=true From these windows, you can download file as a filename.csv But I think these FX rates do not go back prior to early 80's. However, if you are converting to Bitcoin, I guess USDGBP rates prior to 2008 are irrelevant.

Not all flats are bad. I owned/lived in a 2 bed flat that I would think about buying again (were it not 5 or 6 times more than it sold for in 1995). Less than 1 mile from the center of the city, purpose built complex in the early 70's (I think) 6 storeys high (mine was 3rd floor - so it was not a big deal on rare occasions the lift was not working), 20' wide, 40' front to back, at the top of a hill, with a wall of knee-to-ceiling south east facing windows, views for > 12 miles. It was concrete construction, & there was never a noise problem. I cannot remember who owned the freehold - maybe it was, in effect, the leaseholders, but certainly management fees were not extortionate. Worst thing about it was it only had electric storage heaters. But I agree; in general, I would be very hesitant about buying a flat these days.

500,000 to live in an attic!