leviramsey Posted January 29, 2008 VT Supporter Share Posted January 29, 2008 The real question is, what on earth would anybody want to be the next U.S president? A chimp would be a step forward imo We already have a chimp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted January 29, 2008 Moderator Share Posted January 29, 2008 The real question is, what on earth would anybody want to be the next U.S president? A chimp would be a step forward imo We already have a chimp. no, chimps have a level of intelligence that your president is highly unlikely to ever achieve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gringo Posted January 30, 2008 Author Share Posted January 30, 2008 I voted more. Cant see why they wouold go down, there too much demand. The main argument against house price falls appears to be that demand will keep prices up. Demand Mortgage approvals drop further Many surveys have suggested that the housing market is slowing The number of new mortgages approved for home buying fell for the seventh consecutive month in December, the Bank of England has said. It said 73,000 mortgages were approved for home buyers last month, down from a revised figure of 81,000 in November. Growth in consumer credit also slowed, with figures showing a rise of £557m - the smallest increase since April 2007. The data comes as surveyors have warned that first-time house buyers are facing an affordability crisis. Supply Home Information Packs 'to affect market' New rules regarding Home Information Packs could damage the fragile housing market, estate agents have warned. From June sellers can only put their house on the market if they have a HIP, which cost between £300 and £500. Critics claim some sellers are having to wait three weeks for a HIP, and that the new rule will slow down the process of selling a house at a time when the market has cooled. Trevor Kent, former president of the National Association of Estate Agents and a campaigner against HIPs, said: "Now the Government is saying it is against the law to market your house until you have one of these packs. It is just not acceptable." Of course you might think that reducing supply would help support prices,but this isn't thumbtacks we are selling here - the reduced choice will mean people take longer to find the right house, leading to long completion times and the chains weaken as the people at the head of the chain can't find anywhere to buy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronk-villa Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 90% of house sale "Chains" have a first time buyer at the end of the chain. As first time buyers cannot afford to buy, the whole housing market will slow down! directly impacting on house prices. Had our pension guy come round last night, he told us that his company are now about to inforce a guideline that they will only lend 75% of the property value to a first time buyer. This would necessitate a first time buyer being able to put down a deposit of there own for approx 25-35K. That's just not going to happen. Seems they are trying to drive house prices down by themselves! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gringo Posted January 30, 2008 Author Share Posted January 30, 2008 they will only lend 75% of the property value to a first time buyer Utterly ridiculous, markets haemhorraging. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetrees Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 We have just sold a house which completes this week. It dragged for a while with no viewings. The agent suggested dropping the price, but with no viewings we thought it better to drop the agent. The new agents got viewers through the door straight away and we soon accepted an offer that was about 1.75% lower than the asking price. Whilst we believe that the market is quiet, rather than collapsing, we are not rushing to buy something else at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewiek2 Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 Ironically I was made redundant in April so had to get rid of my flat. It is still on the market and I am acertain that it will sell, despite my peronal doubt that anyone in brum will be 90k for a 1 bedroom flatt that needs a makeoever. IF you buy but do not get a secured loan on it there is no way on earth that you will fail to make a profit on your property. Watched a doc about property millionaires and everyone said that a property no matter what doubles it's value every 9years on average. And that not one property over that period makes a loss. A mixture of market value, with c9st of living and strentg of the market. But generlly, if you buy today for £100k, it amy be shit for a few years, BUT you will make a big profit o it in 5-10 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leviramsey Posted January 31, 2008 VT Supporter Share Posted January 31, 2008 no, chimps have a level of intelligence that your president is highly unlikely to ever achieve Almost certainly posted before, but still... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gringo Posted January 31, 2008 Author Share Posted January 31, 2008 Watched a doc about property millionaires and everyone said that a property no matter what doubles it's value every 9years on average. And that not one property over that period makes a loss. A mixture of market value, with c9st of living and strentg of the market. But generlly, if you buy today for £100k, it amy be shit for a few years, BUT you will make a big profit o it in 5-10 years. Yes and no, and no. In actual money (ignoring inflation) prices on average double every nine years, but that doesn't mean no matter what. If you had bought in 1989 you'd have been in negative equity for the next 8 years. Some properties will have made a loss between 1989 and 1999 in some of the worse hit areas, though the average price had just about recovered. Buy at the wrong time, and you won't become a property millionaire. The graph below (adjusted for inflation) shows how a property bought in 89 was worth less in real terms up until 2002. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 well the Americans are doing their bit The US Federal Reserve has announced a half-point cut in a key interest rate as it tries to stave off a recession. BoE sure to follow suit over the coming months Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowychap Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 well the Americans are doing their bit The US Federal Reserve has announced a half-point cut in a key interest rate as it tries to stave off a recession. BoE sure to follow suit over the coming months I'm not so sure, Tony. The MPC's main remit is to keep inflation to target rather than to intervene to stimulate growth a la the Fed. Having read the notes on the BoE's meeting earlier this month, I would guess that there is a chance that they may cut the rate slightly in Feb but that will depend greatly on both CPI and RPI. In the notes they acknowledge that there are a lot of inflationary risks currently (especially with energy prices and by feb we might start seeing some impact of the recent increases) and I'm guessing that these will be the main driver for any MPC decision. If you were to push me on what I thought might happen, it would be a .25% cut in Feb followed by two or three months of no movement. Thereafter, it's anyone's guess. Energy companies could suddenly decide to go through a round of cuts and the potentially good impact this would have on inflation could mean a further cut which might be half a percent. On the other hand if CPI has gone anywhere near 2.5% pus or RPI is not around the same as currently, then there will be no way that I could see them cutting interest rates just to stimulate demand. I can also see the 'technical' definition of recession being stressed over and over again just to support any lack of cut. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gringo Posted January 31, 2008 Author Share Posted January 31, 2008 I think he has to cut 25 points this month, the markets are already expecting that as a minimum and hoping for a 50 pts cut - so if it did not materialise there would be blood on the trading floor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gringo Posted February 5, 2008 Author Share Posted February 5, 2008 House prices unchanged in January House prices were unchanged in January compared to the previous month, according to the Halifax bank. However, the country's biggest mortgage lender said that house prices were rising at an annual rate of 4.5%. __________________ Problems in global financial markets, weakening consumer demand, higher interest rates and increases in petrol and food costs have all combined to rein in growth. The Halifax said it expected the Bank of England to cut interest rates twice during 2008, which should prevent the economy slowing too sharply and support the housing market. Martin Ellis, Halifax chief economist, said: "We expect sound economic fundamentals and lower interest rates to support house prices. Nationally, we predict that house prices will be flat in 2008." The Bank of England is due to meet later this week to discuss UK interest rates. Many analysts are predicting a cut of a quarter of a percentage point, to 5.25% from 5.5%. Despite the annual growth and prices remaining unchanged in January, the Halifax said there was evidence of a longer term slowdown. It said that prices fell by 1% in the three months to the end of January compared to the previous quarter. This was the third successive fall in prices on a three-month basis. Many analysts look at the three month figure as a more accurate measure because they say it is less volatile and gives a better picture of long term trends. Annual house price inflation was 4.5%, down on the previous month's figure of 5.2%. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 Britons collectively have nearly £2 trillion worth of wealth tied up in their homes after taking outstanding mortgages into account. Around 26% of home owners own their home outright, accounting for around £1.4 trillion of the total said GE Money Home Lending. And a further 36% of people have a mortgage on their property, but had still managed to accumulate £582bn of equity, it revealed. That left the average home owner with £127,455 of mortgage-free wealth tied up in their home, quite a buffer against short-term house prices falls, it pointed out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gr10 Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 Is it a good or bad time to buy a property? Few people say yes, few people say no. I cannot decide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gringo Posted February 7, 2008 Author Share Posted February 7, 2008 I wouldn't be looking to invest in any property til Q4 2009* Bank cuts interest rates to 5.25% *This does not constitute financial advice and should not be taken as such. Gringo urges you to obtain professional advice before proceeding with any investment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowychap Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 Disclaimers - not worth the forum they're written on!* *This does not, in any circumstance, constitute legal advice. Snowychap accepts no liability whatsoever for anyone being upset, defrauded, abused or killed due to any interpretation of the comments he makes. :winkold: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 Buy my flat, please!* *This does not constitute financial advice and should not be taken as such. Jon urges you to obtain professional advice before proceeding with any investment, unless you want to buy my flat. Then, IMHO, the time is exactly right to do so ...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 well the Americans are doing their bit The US Federal Reserve has announced a half-point cut in a key interest rate as it tries to stave off a recession. BoE sure to follow suit over the coming months I'm not so sure, Tony. :-) The Bank of England's policymakers have, cut interest rates - to the relief of millions of homeowners and thousands of businesses. Members of its Monetary Policy Committee have trimmed the cost of borrowing by 0.25% to 5.25%. This is less than the 0.5% reduction companies, especially retailers, had been calling for. However, analysts point out the nine-strong committee fought shy of such a big cut because they are wary of stoking inflation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leviramsey Posted February 7, 2008 VT Supporter Share Posted February 7, 2008 The thing is that you can either bail out housing and other asset price markets or you can fight inflation. You can't do both. The BOE cut may achieve neither. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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