Buckwheat

No signs of the oft-talked about crash yet then:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/mai...ixcitytop.html

Jay m A

iTrader: (2)

What % were re-mortgages though? Bound to be loads of mortgage business when rates are low and there are less tie-ins than say 5 years ago.

But I also agree that a crash isn't immenent

GaryK

They talk it up, they talk it down these reports come out just to 'massage' the overall trend.

fast bloke

FTB's were up marginally last month, but I would think the balance of the borrowing was remortgage with increase borrowing to pay off credit cards and loans, then a few quid spare to keep the high street in action. The article gives the full picture, but doesn't seem to notice that they could be related

lozgti

Loads of houses currently for sale with 'no chain involved'.

Wonder how many of those are repossessions or investors offloading properties they can't rent out?

Petem95

Estate Agents are always on about how the very high prices can be maintained, because of the "strong underlying fundamentals", but are they really that strong?...

- Unemployment is has gone up for the last 13 months, Febs increase being the biggest since '92
- Consumer debt at record levels
- Interest rates are likely to rise due to increasing inflation and rates in other markets such as US, Japan on the up
- Bankrupsies and repos have been increasing steadily for about a year

Many economists predict a deep recession around 2008-10, and I would imagine this will be the trigger for the housing market crash. Sadly for FTB's it looks like they've still got a few years of silly prices to contend with if they want to buy!

davyboy

Many FTB who can't afford housing say this too

I like the fact they have predicted a 3 year window

Petem95

In the same way that many home owners predict prices will rocket forever

davyboy

I couldn't care less.

I have a fair bit of equity, and need a house to live in......what do I care?

Petem95

Because the amount of equity is related to the value maybe

davyboy

If I ever thought I'd get in to negaive equity I'd be worried.

The fact remains that I can afford a 4 bed detached house, and the repayments are smaller than a FTB.

davegtt

Why? Negative Equity only means anything if you ever plan to sell the house.

davyboy

Exactly, but circumstances can change.

It might not bother me......but if for some reason I have to move for work/redundancy, then it could be a problem.

InvisibleMan

it only concerns those who buy/sell houses quickly to make money. For the rest of us buying homes to live in for xx years then it doesnt

Tiggs

"House prices to double in next 10 years"

= 7% compound pa, hardly pie in the sky

TopBanana

It is when you consider that they're 50% overvalued currently.

These figures are just signs of a dead cat bouncing.

speedking

Prediction from 31 January 2006 post #40.

How are prices in Cardiff? Only 3 months to go.

Tiggs

??? no they arent - you are jsut making figures up!

TopBanana

Long term trend is 3.7x avg national income. Current figure is 5.6x