Europa

Nothing to do with petty jealousy - just having a bit of a giggle. No offence intended.

Fair enough - my experience is based on London (if you were in the capital, my surreal salary / excrement pit point would be applicable)

On the downside, you live in a war-zone

Your point was reasonable and well argued, with verifiable links. I can assure you it will be ignored by the bears. They will continue to believe that the UK is awash with empty homes and pepper-corn rents.

You either earn a sureal salary or live in an excrement-filled pit. Which is it?

Hurrah indeed That aside, I'm not sure why the bears feel a 0.5pc hike is necessary. The recent increases are likely to be sufficient (and a number of inflationary factors such as energy are dropping out). It does indeed seem that the MPC have kept a steady hand on the tiller; I'm inclined to agree that a 0.25pc increase will make a peak in the current cycle.

* bangs head against wall * Did you actually read the article, RB? It is far from bearish. Indeed, it seems to scotch the idea of a HPC (and ridicules Hutton) Consider this bit... 'The risk of history repeating itself is known, but too few people believe it,' he tuts. 'House prices are now six times average incomes - 20 per cent higher than before the calamity of the early 1990s.' Yes that's true, but even at the worst scenario, interest rates will likely peak this cycle at half their summit of that period. So do the math. A 100% mortgage taken out 15 years ago to buy an average house price by someone on average wages at 12% interest would have taken up 60% of salary to repay on an interest-only basis. Today, the same situation with a 6% mortgage would eat up 36% of income. If there's four people clubbing together today against a couple back then, that cuts the slice of each income to 9% against 30%." And my personal favourite... "Hutton says others than himself have voiced caution, citing by name the housepricecrash.co.uk website. That site has been singing the same song since 2003. If your broker or financial adviser had given you similar counsel to be in cash or bonds over that time, you might have been upset with them."

Fine in an ideal world But what about those who want, or need, to rent. I rented when I first moved to London, and I would have been rather stuffed without access to such accomodation. The alternative (given that housing associations and councils cannot meet demand) would have been some sort of B&B dosshouse. Do you think rental accomodation should be nationalised? Or perhaps left to big businesses to manage? Where would you draw the line? EDIT: D23 made the same point above

Completely agree

Do you want the right to own one of those properties, or just to live in it? And how far would you like to stretch that concept. Should we introduce a command-economy across the board, are just so far as it suits you?

Well, my post was in response to another member's obvious sense of entitlement. That aside, your earnings are likely to increase drastically over the coming years. Houseprices, meanwhile, will almost certainly stagnate. Why worry? Your situation will get much better

How dare they - obviously you're entitled to those properties Why exactly didn't you buy when you had the chance?

It's the sort of pedantry that comes with being an editor

The castle really was stunning - quite like the idea of being lord of the manner Anyone know if the law of primae noctis still applies?

To be fair, the report says "borrower's" salary; singular. If the average housebuyer is earning 39k, then I'd agree. No cause for alarm. But I can't help feeling that the figure is a little misleading.

Seriously, there has to be a business opportunity in this for someone. Why can't we introduce Japanese style "capsule" hotels, or even revive the "Twopenny Hangover"

Def worth checking. I believe there is still a question as to whether it should translate as 72 virgins or 72 bottles of wine. I'd be a bit miffed if I got to paradise and found a couple of cases of Blue Nun waiting

You're asking complete strangers for food?

Yep - money goes a lot further up there

A 250K selling price for a Surrey property valued at 270K? You really don't know what the market is like in the South East - most place command damn near asking price

The bears' strategy does seem to be based on the flawed assumption that investors will head for the exits at the first sign of trouble. Yet (despite predictions) it didn't happen in 2005 when the market was rather soft. The idea that they are "in it for the long term" and that "property is a pension" is repeatedly mocked. Once you understand the rationale of investors, you'll be in a better position to predict their next move.

Count me in too You'll need at least one token bull

How dare you - he's a married man

Oh, come off it I'm not a million miles from your corner of London. We both know a 220K budget will stretch to a perfectly pleasant Victorian garden flat (or a two bed newish build in a decent spot). I suspect you deliberately picked a nasty example