Media Nonsense - People Are Not Buying It Any More!

[waitingscot]

I think there was a period after the financial crisis began when people generally bought the media promoted line that lenders should be "helping" FTBs by increasing credit availability again. Now people realise that those who are encouraging increased lending have no interest in helping first time buyers at all. They just want to saddle them with great amounts of debt to justify inflated house prices and protect their own wealth. Increasing lending has everything to do with bailing out the older generation that over-extended itself, and nothing to do with helping young people.

Take a look at this article and then the reader responses. People are not buying the media's crap any more!

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business...rt-1690496.html

FTBs are not stupid. Many of us recognised what was clearly an unsustainable bubble when older "wiser" heads did not. So how come those same old twinks who bought into bubble mania think they can sell us this crap now by telling us we need more lending? We don't need more lending. We just need patience for prices to fall to a comfortable level. Comfortable level for us that is of course, not for estate agents or those who heavily "invested" in property at bubble prices.

Edited May 25, 2009 by waitingscot

[Pauly_Boy]

Well, the market will make more sense when the headline reads

"7 in 10 home sellers give up on trying to sell their house for an over inflated price and lower their asking prices."

Well, that'll be right move during the summer holidays!

[Executive Sadman]

Obviously a simple spelling error. He meant to write 'us' not 'up'

[HAMISH_MCTAVISH]

Take a look at this article and then the reader responses. People are not buying the media's crap any more!

Except for the one slight problem in your theory.

That article was posted, and linked from, the frontpage of HPC this morning.

Are you really surprised it's received negative comments?

It's not "people" posting that. It's HPC crashaholics indulging in their usual addictive behaviour of spamming comment boards WITH THE EXACT SAME SPAM that is posted on here daily.

Sybil is particularly well known for it, as are many others.

[waitingscot]

Except for the one slight problem in your theory.

That article was posted, and linked from, the frontpage of HPC this morning.

Are you really surprised it's received negative comments?

It's not "people" posting that. It's HPC crashaholics indulging in their usual addictive behaviour of spamming comment boards WITH THE EXACT SAME SPAM that is posted on here daily.

Sybil is particularly well known for it, as are many others.

That might explain some of the posts on these sorts of articles but not all of them. The sheer volume and vehemence of the rejection of HPI narratives is palpable whenever media outlets allow readers an opportunity to express a view.

Plus if there are loads of FTBs who agree with the estate agent and are dying to be saddled with copious amounts of debt to pay inflated prices then what prevents them posting their views? Maybe such duped FTBs are simply a dying breed and that explains their silence - a shame for those who "need" prices to keep their bubble levels.

[Alfie Moon]

Except for the one slight problem in your theory.

That article was posted, and linked from, the frontpage of HPC this morning.

Are you really surprised it's received negative comments?

It's not "people" posting that. It's HPC crashaholics indulging in their usual addictive behaviour of spamming comment boards WITH THE EXACT SAME SPAM that is posted on here daily.

Sybil is particularly well known for it, as are many others.

Still spouting your silly paranoid nonsense Hamish. You are in denial about the turn in the public sentiment about house prices - look at the 100s of national and local newspapers on the web that carry 1000s of property market related news articles each month and across the year. Readers comments with all of them are showing that the public are now against high and rising house prices and want house prices to keep falling until they reach sensible levels that people can afford with their incomes rather than getting into financially suicidal amounts of debt.

It is silly paranoid nonsense to claim that there is an army of HPCers posting and dominating readers comments on these websites and 1000s of articles.

Your claims are as silly as it would be to claim that an army of Estate Agents were posting and dominating readers comments 12 - 18 months ago and the previous 6-7 years before that when readers were predominantly for high/rising house prices and were against falling house prices.

You are unable to support your paranoid contention that HPCers are dominating readers comments by explaining why HPCers were not successfully dominating readers comments until only 12 months ago when HPC membership numbers were not significantly lower.

You claims are just plain daft Hamish. You obviously mix with far too many Estate Agents that are stuck in the past and keep denying the present and future.

[spivT]

I think there is a minority on hpc who do do this. However, I've been surprised at the sheer numbers of people commenting from a bearish perspective on every media site and blog I've looked at for the last 2-3 years. It doesn't seem to be the minority sport you're describing. It showed a groundswell of opinion that rejected the staus quo of unaffordable homes.

it's a case of if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck.... The type of people who like to comment on articles and issues of the day tend to be less easily influenced by vested interests.

Some of these commentors who smell the VI rat may even be homeowners, but they can see a bias or VI narrative being peddled when they see one. That then needs to be called out.

Ultimately in all this we've all got a VI in seeing a particular policy response or action, but the mainstream HPI narrative isn't quite having the same effect as in recent years. The 'banks not lending' windbags are starting to get very boring, MPs expenses are illiciting far greater vitriol in the populace than bankers actions or inactions, we've got a populace phenomally cynical of our elected representatives.

Many people may equate lower mortgage payments with a labour govt. wanting to 'do the right thing'. But the other half of mortgage payers not seeing those benefits and seeing council tax rises and pay freezes adding to the general mood are a seething pit of resentment. Or something like that.

[Cogs]

Why would I want the government to interfere to help me buy now?

I'd rather they butted out and let me buy for cash in the not-as-distant-as-it-used-to-be future.

That is all the 'help' I require. It doesn't help people stuck with negative equity, estate agents and banks though I admit.

[RufflesTheGuineaPig]

Why would I want the government to interfere to help me buy now?

I'd rather they butted out and let me buy for cash in the not-as-distant-as-it-used-to-be future.

That is all the 'help' I require. It doesn't help people stuck with negative equity, estate agents and banks though I admit.

Falling house prices are great, but the global fincial appocolpse they are causing is not so good.

Houses may be cheap in 5 years, but since there will be no electricity or police force, house prices may not be the first thing on your mind.

[the_austrian]

Peter Bolton-King, a former head of the National Association of Estate Agents, accused the Government of doing little to help first-time buyers into the market and at the same time undermining the chances of a housing recovery. “With banks still refusing to lend and the Government doing practically nothing to help first-time buyers, it’s little wonder so many people have given up hope of every owning their own home,” said Mr Bolton-King, now chief executive of the National Federation of Property Professionals.

Perhaps we should make it easier for them to get into debt?

[Cogs]

Falling house prices are great, but the global fincial appocolpse they are causing is not so good.

Houses may be cheap in 5 years, but since there will be no electricity or police force, house prices may not be the first thing on your mind.

You might be right in which case I'll take what I want/protect what I have with force, like everyone else and this will all just be a memory. I don't really see how these things are related though, I don't think my taking out a mortgage on an overpriced flat will save the world.

[eric pebble]

Still spouting your silly paranoid nonsense Hamish. You are in denial ......./

You claims are just plain daft Hamish. You obviously mix with far too many Estate Agents that are stuck in the past and keep denying the present and future.

He was dropped on his head at age 1.

[eric pebble]

You are one seriously deluded fool ............

Yup....

[eric pebble]

The sheer volume and vehemence of the rejection of HPI narratives is palpable whenever media outlets allow readers an opportunity to express a view.

Because people are sick and tired of the endless lies.

[Jim B.]

I think there was a period after the financial crisis began when people generally bought the media promoted line that lenders should be "helping" FTBs by increasing credit availability again. Now people realise that those who are encouraging increased lending have no interest in helping first time buyers at all. They just want to saddle them with great amounts of debt to justify inflated house prices and protect their own wealth. Increasing lending has everything to do with bailing out the older generation that over-extended itself, and nothing to do with helping young people.

FTBs are not stupid. Many of us recognised what was clearly an unsustainable bubble when older "wiser" heads did not. So how come those same old twinks who bought into bubble mania think they can sell us this crap now by telling us we need more lending? We don't need more lending. We just need patience for prices to fall to a comfortable level. Comfortable level for us that is of course, not for estate agents or those who heavily "invested" in property at bubble prices.

Nice post. It's taken some time but sentiment is changing slowly.

[polkadotspeedo]

I posted this under the Independent article when one asked why scum bags like PBK are given the platform to "express themselves", but it's not appearing...

"These scum bags are given the platform to spread their lies because the media, the very reporter in this article, and the many employees of very many media organisations (especially the main stream ones) all have a vested interest in seeing a house price bounce back since almost all of them own their own houses.

So we can't trust anybody in the media until they start publishing their conflict of interest declarations!"

[eric pebble]

I posted this under the Independent article when one asked why scum bags like PBK are given the platform to "express themselves", but it's not appearing...

"These scum bags are given the platform to spread their lies because the media, the very reporter in this article, and the many employees of very many media organisations (especially the main stream ones) all have a vested interest in seeing a house price bounce back since almost all of them own their own houses.

So we can't trust anybody in the media until they start publishing their conflict of interest declarations!"

Yup....

[Fergie]

The sheer volume and vehemence of the rejection of HPI narratives is palpable whenever media outlets allow readers an opportunity to express a view.

Yup. HPC has been around since 2004. I remember the plethora of bullish articles in 2006/07 about rising house prices, many of which were linked here. Back then you could instantly tell the HPCer because they were the handful of comments that said it's a bubble, prices will crash. They were totally drowned out by house prices only ever rise...my BTL is making a fortune...people who aren't on the ladder are sad loser... posts.

Sentiment has changed, radically. I used to post comments on those types of articles, but no longer bother.

[redwing]

So, there's lots of bearish posts on newspaper comments pages.

Simple solution for the bulls then.

Go Post!

Since they're not posting, one can only assume there ain't many of them.

[Darkman]

Except for the one slight problem in your theory.

That article was posted, and linked from, the frontpage of HPC this morning.

Are you really surprised it's received negative comments?

It's not "people" posting that. It's HPC crashaholics indulging in their usual addictive behaviour of spamming comment boards WITH THE EXACT SAME SPAM that is posted on here daily.

Sybil is particularly well known for it, as are many others.

What difference does it make?

This is how movements are formed. Like-minded people gathered on this board, and from here post elsewhere.

These are individuals with a point of view, same as anyone else, and more power to them for taking action.

[indirectapproach]

“Take a look at this article and then the reader responses. People are not buying the media's crap any more!”

Haven’t bought a newspaper for years. If I thought it was worth paying money for their carp, I would but it isn’t.

[LazyDay]

Falling house prices are great, but the global fincial appocolpse they are causing is not so good.

Houses may be cheap in 5 years, but since there will be no electricity or police force, house prices may not be the first thing on your mind.

Financial apocalypse is not being caused by the fall in house prices. Rather, the fall in house prices and financial apocalypse are both caused by unsustained lending bubble.

Expectations of further falls in prices will deepen the crisis, but trying to support current level of house prices would not be the most productive use of scarce public money in crisis. Opportunity costs are too high.

[Mikhail Liebenstein]

So, there's lots of bearish posts on newspaper comments pages.

Simple solution for the bulls then.

Go Post!

Since they're not posting, one can only assume there ain't many of them.

HPC.co.uk has definitely help direct messages to the comments sections and this does seem to have adjusted the views expressed by some journalists.

HPC has now won the crash versus continuing HPI argument, but the new battle front is recovery/has it bottomed yet versus will crash continue.

In my view the key way to keep the crash going is to make people aware of the only possible direction for interest rates.

If you buy now, you probably need to be prepared for a tripling of your interest payments in the next 2 years.

[Snow Birds]

I think there was a period after the financial crisis began when people generally bought the media promoted line that lenders should be "helping" FTBs by increasing credit availability again. Now people realise that those who are encouraging increased lending have no interest in helping first time buyers at all. They just want to saddle them with great amounts of debt to justify inflated house prices and protect their own wealth. Increasing lending has everything to do with bailing out the older generation that over-extended itself, and nothing to do with helping young people.

Take a look at this article and then the reader responses. People are not buying the media's crap any more!

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business...rt-1690496.html

FTBs are not stupid. Many of us recognised what was clearly an unsustainable bubble when older "wiser" heads did not. So how come those same old twinks who bought into bubble mania think they can sell us this crap now by telling us we need more lending? We don't need more lending. We just need patience for prices to fall to a comfortable level. Comfortable level for us that is of course, not for estate agents or those who heavily "invested" in property at bubble prices.

Excellent post. Well said. The future belongs to the young. A truism. Always did, always will.