moesasji

I was indeed considering my own generation (=mid 30's) instead of focusing on Mr Dawson specifically and to be honest I hadn't even looked at the article (beyond seeing the 4 persons in the picture).

To some extend I had this impression already, but it still would not really add up: Getting a high paying job probably means you have to go to university with a delay before you can stop saving + a student loan to pay off as a result. At the same time it would take a number of years until these people hit the high tax rate region we are talking about here. So effectively you say those families would have to postpone getting children until they are >40 with all the associated risks over reduced chance to get pregnant, etc.

I think you have to think very carefully how FTB are defined for generating these numbers. If I recall correctly it is anyone who buys a house without having had a mortgage in the past 6 months or so. Hence it would include those who have owned before but have temporarily moved into renting. This would explain both the high average age + the huge deposits that they can put forward. edit to back up the above) See for example the following statement from http://www.mortgagestrategy.co.uk/ftb-home-truths/102399.article:

Yes that is completely consistent with the amount of SSTC boards I see here in Bristol. Seeing that banks are reluctant to lend it must mean that the pressure on prices is downward, i.e. that sellers are finally giving in and accepting lower offers. But that we will only see once properties change hands and sale prices get published.

I would suggest you try to find an 3 bedroom apartment in the area that they live that would allow to save 2000 pounds/month. Seems pretty impossible to me with the cheapest ones coming up at 900pcm, while "suitable" places appear more in the 1100-1200 range. So it would take a hell of a time to save 120k even on those kind of incomes if you have children.... (ps: 3 bedroom would be minimum for housing benefit as two children of different gender)

A drop of 106k in a single go makes it worth to kick this topic on Monmouthshire back into action; http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-26839366.html With a total reduction by 32% it looks pretty sensibly priced.....(not that I could afford it)

I find it very, very surprising that on a site dedicated to houseprices people fail to recognize the importance of the bold bit. Young people that are fortunate enough to earn enough to pay the high tax rate often have to live in an area in which housing is expensive.....and as a result you need an insane income in comparison to someone who owns his house. For those that find this difficult to believe. Just run a search on 3 bedroom rental properties around big cities such as Bristol and you will find there is very little for rent <£1000 a month near a semi-decent state school even if you are willing to commute for an hour back and fro. Which would be 12k of your after tax income already (this is already 18k gross!)....add food, insurance, council tax, commuting costs and I can fully understand that a high-rate tax payer would not feel "wealthy".

I fully agree with this....most posters on this topic that consider 60k extremely high seem to "own" their house completely underestimating how much house for families around big cities cost to rent or buy if you haven't been born in the right period in time. Even with a massive commute there is very, very little available below £900 - £1000 per month for a family around here (assuming that you want to send your children to a semi-decent state school).

As said, he seems to be updating at the moment. Which clearly makes that not all information is up-to-date at the moment. This 2.9% is one example of things that date back from a year ago. ps) I recall him as one of the most knowledgeable posters on this forum....a real shame he is no longer posting.

For those being a long time member.....it looks like Spline is finally updating his website again after a year of no movement what so ever. Look at houseprices.uk.net and observe the review date at the top right corner. The really nice bit is that the houseprice predictor looks extremely promising.

The Child benefit cuts is still 1.5 years away it being Jan 2013, so I doubt that that will play a role (although the financial savy might see the storm coming). My feeling is that the interest rate to rise is what is really needed for the standoff to change.

Keep in mind that this is a picture that exists on a national scale. Effectively the market appears to be divided between those that have a massive backpocket and those that need a mortgage. Look at page 13 in the landregistry statistics, see http://www1.landregistry.gov.uk/assets/library/documents/HPI_Report_Jan_11_lanifs45.pdf Declining sale-numbers are only present for houses <400k.

I've noticed the same in my almost daily search of Bristol and 20 miles surrounding it. All of a sudden I see decent houses coming up for auction, which hasn't been the case for a very long time. And these are real auctions, with the tape clearly visible on the toilets. Every day probably one or two out of a list of ~160 properties. Examples that changed today: 1) http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-24765373.html 2) http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-16387794.html These pictures tell enough. ps) Also very little shows up as going SSTC in the last couple of weeks in this search...again a step-change.

This same "agency" did affect the listings in and around Bristol as well. I must say that I am very curious what is going on here.

There might not be many articles on it, but I would think very hard about what is happening in Ireland at the moment. The parallels with the UK are not that difficult to see. Keep in mind that if loans are considered riskier then interest rates that banks charge will have to go up, simply to keep enough money coming in to keep them alive.

Same action here (although I have far less savings to move out). Removing the free withdrawal abroad on the debit card has made me move to another bank that at least pays decent interest on some of their saving-accounts. The free withdrawals was their only unique selling point, so very difficult to see why they took this strange action.

Some news that many of us won't be too happy with.... Beerhunter has posted the following post on the propertybee forum. A real shame to see him go and I can only hope that somebody will keep this fantastic tool alive.

This link works. Seeing that you have "eager" sellers in very close proximity it to me seems horrendously overpriced, see for example: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-27820246.html Clearer older people that most likely have enough equity to be able to drop the price further if needed as they have done already. It is not a direct comparison as it clearly needs updating, but you can do that for a lot less than 45k. btw) Don't be fooled about the STC.....CJHole has a whole range in that neighborhood sold on the 12th of November, which clearly is to good to be true. @Sylv123: ask yourself the question where the money is going to come from if banks are not able to lend...

The above link doesn't work for me....so needs fixing somehow. *) however seeing that the market in Bristol still appears to be hanging on it probably is worth to sit and wait to see how things develop over the winter.

This is not the first time this happens. Just a matter of being patient until their site-admin fixes the problem and it will be up and running again.

Those are beyond my guessing abilities....but google always helps. See Mumsnet Abreviations

Not so difficult to guess I would think: DD = Dear Daughter DS = Dear Son DC = Dear Children DH = Dear Husband

Top of the market is definitely taking hits in Bristol as well....THIS PEARL in Bristol is a nice example. Down to 2.9M from an original 4.25M (32% off). Seeing the insane amounts paid for "typical houses" in Clifton not even that overpriced (I would think). ps) Lower end also has examples of rapidly going down, see THIS EXAMPLE. Even the original price was low for the area....

Such a thread already exists for Bristol, see http://www.housepricecrash.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=70944

If you are referring to the increase in price on day followed by an reduction the next day to the old price.....very common trick to make the house show up in alert-emails due to the changed price. *) Sold STC means very little in these advertisements. The amount of houses appearing as new already being SSTC tells enough.