ossigeno

But it is the reality. Houses won't sell if people hang on to unrealistic prices in a collapsing market. Homeowners can't have it all in one direction.

dmpp

House prices may have gone up 300% if you bought more than 3/4 years ago so a 50% droop would still give you 150% gain.

House prices are only what people will accept or buy at and some analysts quoting a % does not apply the random attitudes of the general public. If you have equity in your property then you could remorgage against that or if you are still paying you mortgage payments then why would you sell for less than what you payed.

The downard % only applies to the people who have recently lost their jobs and have no equity which is probally a small amout and they will probally take bankruptcy option anyway and write off any depts.

So basically any % qouted can't be trusted and actually you are quoting so called financial experts that got us in this mess anyway.

iamthecreaturefromuranus

A lot easier said than done for many people.

I'm on my fourth house and they have all been places to live, not investments.

It may well be the reality but it doesn't make it any easier to stomach for the people now in negative equity

To me these quotes are all a bit hard hearted and smack of an "I'm all right Jack" attitude. So long as its going OK for you then anybody else who's struggling only has themselves to blame. Its a very American, and Thatcherite, attitude.

Notts_bloke

So you don't expect you to make a profit from any increase in value??

iamthecreaturefromuranus

Any profit I have ever made on house sales has simply been coincidental. I bought all my houses to live in, not profit from and I only actually ever sold a home when I was moving cities, or continents.

Any 'profit' I ever made just went into paying more for the next house I moved to. I never managed to stick a big bundle of cash in the bank as a result of speculating.

Weird Fish

No it isn't reality. Houses aren't selling in the UK because the finance isn't being freed up by the mortgage lenders. Even if individuals dropped their prices by 50% there would only be a minute number of people with the cash to buy.

It is not realistic to expect people to sell their homes at an extortionate loss, that would be stupidity and would only cause greater financial headaches in the UK. Everyone is sitting tight, very few people are actually selling and very few people are actually buying, so the market is stagnant.

Your comments are smug, arrogant and insensitive to people who really are struggling with the current economic situation. I am a homeowner who would like to sell, but I am not prepared to rush things, but am secure enough that I will not make a loss. This is not the case for many other homeowners who aren't fortunate enough to be in this position.

Notts_bloke

That is exactly my point. You still made a profit. Therefore, the houses were an investment.

iamthecreaturefromuranus

funny that despite making a 'profit' my mortgage managed to increase everytime I bought a new house.

Notts_bloke

Was that because you moved to a better house in a nicer area or more expensive city/ country?

iamthecreaturefromuranus

I moved from the North of England to the South. Did I make a profit when I moved?. Twice yes, once no.


What's the point of this exactly?

Notts_bloke

You were trying to tell me that your houses weren't an investment.

iamthecreaturefromuranus

I'm trying to tell you that I never bought a house as an investment. I bought them all as homes. Places for myself and my family to live in. The home I am in now has lost money since I bought it. While that is irritating its not a major problem because its not why I bought the place.

It becomes a problem if I have to sell. Its then a big problem.

asprilla

I think the point is, we may choose to view a house as a home first & foremost, or an investment, or a mix of both.

But the reality is, a house is both a home (for the person living in it) and an investment (for the person who owns it).

Burbage

It's not smug. If people have to sell they have to sell. A house that is priced too high is worth nothing, since it won't be sold. If you make a loss on your house the problem was that the banks lent far too much money in the first place and prices inflated to untenable levels. If you bought then thinking the prices would continue to rise you were a fool I'm afraid. It is the fault of the banks for lending too much. They were the ones who set the market price and greedy sellers raised their prices because the banks would meet them.

Mortgages and the amount of cash made available to people without proper checks on whether they can afford to pay it off is what caused this crisis, and there is no way that lending more money is the solution.

ossigeno

Take it how you want to, I'm only stating facts. People really believed prices would go up forever. I'm struggling in the current economic climate but I adapted, I lowered my expectations, I took lodgers. I commute interstate, I follow the work. Mon-Fri home for me is a backpacker hostel, I only see my kids on the weekends, I used to earn $x/per hour now I earn 60% of x. People want to know what tough times are come and see me, I thrive on tough times. I don't feel sorry for myself.

I could have said I'm not going to work until I find someone to pay me $x again and I would have been out of work for a long time. Same with house prices. Hold on or sell at current market expectations.