Bloomberg: British House Prices Can't Keep Rising Forever

[DoubleBubbleTrouble]

British House Prices can't keep rising forever

In particular I liked this bit:

Angry Home Owners

At some point, housing will be too expensive. People will stay in Poland or Estonia, for the simple reason that the higher wages in the U.K. don't make up for the cost of finding somewhere to live. More people -- particularly the retired -- will buy houses abroad.

Next, more houses will have to be constructed. U.K. governments have been reluctant to free up the planning restrictions because they are frightened of voters who will be angry if anything is built too close to their house.

That will have to change as well. The angry voters who can't afford to buy a home will soon outnumber the angry property owners who don't want the view from their house spoiled. When that happens, planning restrictions will ease.

If you want to be one of those angry voters you know where to come to make it count!

[smiley]

I think the balance on the nimbies versus new builds could soon enter an interesting phase: as property prices start to fall - say they go down 10% - nimbies will be angry that their paper money is decreasing, but prices will still be too high for most folk, who'll still want more to be built. In other words, this part of the cycle - perhaps only months away - will be particularly fierce!