strawbear

here is your link to full article http://www.economist.com/node/21561901

There are some good negative comments about relying on the bank of mum and dad ,when they are going to need every penny as incomes and pensions are squeezed . My parents always told me if you cant afford it yourself you cant buy it. My grandfather always said never buy anything until you can afford it twice!!

Looks like furniture from a dolls house . Its not a trick photo ? Is it a spacious dolls house!!

According to Reuters Iran has stopped oil sales to British and French companies http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/19/us-iran-oil-europe-idUSTRE81I07W20120219

Yes i listened to that retail sales up ,and also that consumer confidence is up following a fall in inflation,recovery locked in . 3 hours later it is record diesel prices just hit and this will impact on almost everything and stoke inflation (seems like Merves temporary inflationary high oil prices ,which he said have now receded are coming back) ,cant see that restoring consumer confidence for long. Then we get newsnight.

I am inclined to rule out Peter Pan or Sooty and his magic wand and oofle dust, although i am sure when they have tried everything else they might bring them into play ,so i reckon you may be right, If so we are in for some ramping and messages of ''Buy now or you could miss out and get left behind by the crowd ' The Council next door to mine has ear marked a possible £10 million for their scheme to help first time buyers. There is a fine line between the previous disaster of lending to people who couldn't afford the house they were buying and these schemes which are really helping people who errr cant really afford the houses in their area . I am sure nothing could possibly go wrong again!!

No, this is 35 miles northish of Cambridge lots of low paid agricultural and packhouse jobs,average wage here is below £20,000 The only people who live here are those that get a job round here and those who have always lived here and dont know any better .There are definitely not any buyers in the market for offspring to live here whilst at Cambridge. But in last few weeks buyers seem to be coming out in droves to view and buy and i cant explain it The prices havent dropped that much .Two more houses have sold this week very close to me, and a nearby house has an offer of near asking price.. It seems that something has changed since christmas and i cant explain it. BTL are not buying them either.

Here in the Cambridgeshire Fens something odd has been happening in the last few weeks . Not a lot sold last year, many properties on the market for more than a year, but suddenly lots of property being sold and new houses coming on the market and selling , some within days, Two near me have just sold, they reduced the price by 10% after christmas but would still be above peak values they sold for . House nearly next door to me had no viewings for weeks then got 4 in one day last week with offers around asking price. My house is exactly the same and would have been worth about £127000 at peak ,yet the one near me was up for just over £140,000 .Estate agents report in local paper that they are having their busiest period for 4 years and judging from activity they may for once be right . Is this happening elsewhere or is this just a quirk of the Fens.

According to a minister on the radio today we will be getting steady growth next year and unemployment will show steady falls . Any recovery and growth also relies on fairly cheap oil .At the rate oil is being traded up in the last few days we will be seeing record petrol prices very soon. My local garages hit their record prices yesterday when they went up 2p to 139.9 Any little tiff with Iran is going to send prices even higher. There does come a point where the cost of getting to work leaves you worse off than going on benefits. There was a story in my local paper of the policeman who couldnt afford his commute to work anymore and was sleeping in his car . A relative of mine who emigrated 15 years a go to America came back to a school reunion at the end of last year. Many people at that reunion were saying they had been told that their jobs would be going in the new year. These were people in their 40s mostly working in the private sector in fairly well paid jobs in science ,research , construction ,manufacturing etc. Most at the reunion who worked in the Public sector felt that their jobs were secure. I occasionally go into Cambridge which is one of least recession hit areas in the UK yet in the last few months there are more and more shops there becoming empty which equates to more job losses. If you factor in the many who are now working for less money or being forced to cut hours then you get a true picture of the economy. Employers know that if they pay a low wage to workers for part time hours that the government will make the wage up into a living one via tax credits and housing benefit.

Butter and cheese are up because the supermarkets are now having to pay milk producers more . Some supermarket milk prices went up last week by 2p . At the end of last year the farmers and food processors realised that unless they passed on the cost of their increasing inputs many would go out of business . This is particularly true of the dairy industry ,hence dairy products are set for bigger rises as supermarkets pass on their increased costs to maximise their profits. Many items in supermarkets have risen 25% plus in the last 6 months . Bag of 1kg frozen chips last september and november £1-50 now £2, ( you can however still buy a 25kg bag of potatoes from the farm gate for £5) jam up 15% some of the bread i buy now up 15%, cornish pasties up 15p --the list goes on.. Agricultural workers got a below inflation pay rise at the back end of last year of 2.5% and those in the food processing industry got similar awards or even bigger. Any rise in wages is quickly passed down the chain. Wheat is still being traded higher despite bigger than expected yields last year , livestock farmers will not survive unless costs are passed on and supermarkets will of course make sure they dont lose out by increasing prices. Imagine what food prices would be if supermarkets paid a 'living' wage to many of their employees and didnt rely on the government making up wages with tax credits and housing benefit. Food will continue to get more expensive but at least you can buy photographic equipment ,tvs and toasters at up to half price. Huge discounts on clothes ,carpets ,furniture and no doubt dating agency fees will see to it that inflation is falling yet the things you need food ,petrol ,insurance gas ,electricity ,transport costs etc will continue to rise . And if it all kicks off in Iran you can expect even higher surges in the things you need.

Oil especially Brent oil is being traded up at a fast pace now . It was $109 about 10 days a go now approaching $118. Whilst Bernanke was giving his doom and gloom speech this week it moved up rapidly ,copper and other metals did the same .That doesnt bear well for inflationary pressures which Merve said at the end of last year had now been lifted I expect after Merve waves Sooty's magic wand at the printing presses tomorrow the trend upwards will continue . Everything you need ,fuel ,food ,light ,heat ,insurance etc will be going up in price ,yet things you dont need -72 inch tvs, toasters, dating agency fees,phone apps etc will fall in price .And they will be able to say inflation is falling.

Close, but Guyhirn is what i would call the gateway to nowhere. Last time i was in Peterborough there were big boards outside recruitment offices looking for call centre workers and pack house jobs etc at around minimum wage. Its the same out in the Fens lots of low paid agricultural and related jobs The average wage is just under £20,000 per year, average house price 2010 was over £140,000. And Fenland is the most affordable part of Cambridgeshire. Only one way for house prices round here and it isnt up.

First post on here, I live about 15 miles east of PE1 --not quite the end of the world ,but you can see it from here. There have been several houses for sale near me for some time, several without any viewings for a while. Since christmas though there seem to have been several price reductions. House the same as mine would have been worth around £124,000 at peak ,marketed at over £140,000 last year without a sniff of a view, now down to £124,000- getting viewings and offers of about £5,000 less. Similar house on street just gone on market at £125,000, last year that would have been put up at at least £135,000 .There have been several similar reductions recently. Seems to be lots of price reductions around town and sold notices going up. PE1 of course is an area where the local council has earmarked several millions of pounds for backstopping first time buyer mortgages.