Sentiment has changed in the office

[Monkey]

I have noticed over the last month, and more so the last week, that sentiment on House prices has changed. This is in an Engineering company with many people at various stages of life and earnings. 

Its much, much more bearish than it has been for the last 2 years. People acually talking of house price falls, chains failing. Talk of how ridiculous HtB, etc are and that the government shouldnt be meddling in a "free" market. BTL getting a bashing as well. 

Its all quite odd.... 3 months ago anyone mentioning the possibility of HPI slowing let alone reverse, would have been branded a nutter, now its the other way round

[MattW]

I think that wveryone is now so bloody fed up being stretched so thin just to afford the basic necessity of shelter. 10 years ago it was probably accepted that the housing market was the way it was and now many more are noticing how tough it really is given how salaries haven't kept pace with housing. EG: requiring two full time salaries to service the mortgage payment or private rental payment.

Shame on the Government for allowing this scandal to carry on.

[Si1]

16 hours ago, MattW said:

.

Shame on the Government for allowing this scandal to carry on.

+1

They're complaining that the housing market might not survive a shock, that it's fragile.

Now who built up and promoted that fragility?

[simvastatin]

maybe now is the time to make stupid offers

[Bruce Banner]

On 15/09/2018 at 16:47, prozac said:

maybe now is the time to make stupid offers

Or wait until your "stupid offer" is stupidly high. The market has a long way to fall.

[happyguy]

if you make an offer that you think is stupid so will everyone else and you will  not be taken seriously when other well priced houses are available 

[happyguy]

On 14/09/2018 at 22:30, MattW said:

ow many more are noticing how tough it really is given how salaries haven't kept pace with housing. EG: requiring two full time salaries to service the mortgage payment or private rental payment.

Shame on the Government for allowing this scandal to carry on.

what exactly do you think the government could do to alleviate this issue

not trolling a genuine question because I cannot think of an answer that works

[simvastatin]

16 minutes ago, happyguy said:

what exactly do you think the government could do to alleviate this issue

not trolling a genuine question because I cannot think of an answer that works

I don’t think anything can be done 

[dougless]

20 minutes ago, prozac said:

I don’t think anything can be done 

Make borrowing a bit tighter with interest rate rises might nudge things in the right direction.

Edited September 20, 2018 by dougless

[Monkey]

21 minutes ago, happyguy said:

what exactly do you think the government could do to alleviate this issue

not trolling a genuine question because I cannot think of an answer that works

Remove HTB, and other props for the housing market, encourage BoE to raise interest rates to 5-7% ASAP. 

Force wage multiples to a sensible level (similar to the rates in the 80's)

Would be a start

Edited September 20, 2018 by Monkey

[Bruce Banner]

3 hours ago, happyguy said:

if you make an offer that you think is stupid so will everyone else and you will  not be taken seriously when other well priced houses are available 

You're dealing with estate agents. If you are a proceedable buyer, they'll take you seriously. They might not like you but it's not a popularity contest .

[MattW]

6 hours ago, happyguy said:

what exactly do you think the government could do to alleviate this issue

I don't think the GovernBankment really wants to tackle the issue.

All we can do is just wait until interest rates go up further and things turn to s**t on their own accord.

[“Nasty Piece of work”]

I was heartened when at the Labour conference a General Strike was mooted.  Whiłst it will never happen, it is good to see this “realism” get air time.

 

[EnglishinWales]

We need a revolution. 

Or the government could do various things: Ban Help To Buy and ban buy-to-let  - landlords shouldn't be able to rent out properties unless they own them outright. BTLers should be forced to sell them to the sitting tenant or put up for sale if they can't pay down the mortgage themselves. Raise the housing benefit level so all over-18s get the same amount. Put a land value tax on the aristocracy and take the power of the banks to charge interest away from them. This is likely to result to result in annihilation by Israel however...

[eric pebble]

On 20/09/2018 at 13:09, Bruce Banner said:

Or wait until your "stupid offer" is stupidly high. The market has a long way to fall.

The "market" needs to fall 70-80%.  Yes -- no typo;  70- 80%.

Edited October 29, 2018 by eric pebble

[iamnumerate]

On 29/10/2018 at 13:55, eric pebble said:

The "market" needs to fall 70-80%.  Yes -- no typo;  70- 80%.

Surely in some places that would make it cheaper in real terms (maybe even in nominal prices) than the 1990s?

[Captain Kirk]

13 minutes ago, iamnumerate said:

Surely in some places that would make it cheaper in real terms (maybe even in nominal prices) than the 1990s?

Houses in the 90s were overpriced also. I remember thinking that at the time.

[iamnumerate]

1 minute ago, Captain Kirk said:

Houses in the 90s were overpriced also. I remember thinking that at the time.

I thought the early 90s were the cheapest for a long time (IIRC).

[Captain Kirk]

1 minute ago, iamnumerate said:

I thought the early 90s were the cheapest for a long time (IIRC).

They were cheaper than the late 80s due to the housing bust. I was a student in the 90s but do remember the prices people were paying and remember thinking they must be mad.

I guess I've never been able to see the value in housing, but back then it would have been more of a liability for me. Today I just see a huge bubble and suppressed savings rates designed to force people into the bubble.

[dougless]

20 minutes ago, iamnumerate said:

I thought the early 90s were the cheapest for a long time (IIRC).

Prices peaked in 1989 and then slowly slid down but it took a few years to bottom out.  In Berkshire they fell by 30+% - good times.

[iamnumerate]

15 minutes ago, dougless said:

Prices peaked in 1989 and then slowly slid down but it took a few years to bottom out.  In Berkshire they fell by 30+% - good times.

Were they cheaper than in the 70s etc?  Or am I wrong?

[dougless]

56 minutes ago, iamnumerate said:

Were they cheaper than in the 70s etc?  Or am I wrong?

No, prices in the 70's look like pocket money now.  From memory there was an early 70's climb in prices which continued through to the late 70's BUT inflation was so high in the mid 70's that in effect prices were falling or flat-lining towards the end of the decade.

[burk]

On 29/10/2018 at 13:55, eric pebble said:

The "market" needs to fall 70-80%.  Yes -- no typo;  70- 80%.

I completely agree, when looking at what family members have paid for various places over the years and then a cursory look on the internet to see what the same property sold for over the last 15 to 20 years you're right - many i look at round my way would need to fall at least 60 to 70% to where they were in mid to late 90's.

Just goes to show how crazy things have got and how far we've got to go...................