The Dean

Cry haddock

It's bad alright - but the interpretation of charts should always consider scale...
Agree with the sentiment though,
CH

Robbies

I've seen that chart on the BBC website and think that although the information is correct, it over-emphasises the story...

My interpretation of it...

Aug 07 and house prices were 11% higher than the previous Aug. Aug 08 and proces are 11% less than last Aug, although the chart depicts this as having dropped about 22 places on the scale. Some may look at it as being a 22% drop from Aug 07 to Aug 08, when this is not the case.

Yes, it is correct in what it shows (like you say, can't argue with it), but I am sure it could have been shown in a better/clearer/less "OMG!" way.

TGFKASE

Have to admit, the way I read it is that my house is now worth exactly the same as it was in Oct 2007....

The Dean

Depends where it is.

That chart shows a national average. In some areas there has only been a small correction, in others it's been a landslide..........

I sold up in May 07, and don't own anything there now - no regrets.........

Robbies

Seems to be big variances all over the country. Aberdeen, and much of Scotland for example is still increasing in value.

TGFKASE - same price as Oct 07 - you get that from reading the above chart??? Or from what you read elsewhere specific to your area?

The Dean

How are prices in Aberdeen etc increasing in value?

Which idiots are willing to pay more for a property than they would have done a year ago?

Robbies

Which idiots??? Nice

The attached table is from the BBC website. Shows increases for majority of areas in Scotland.

How are they increasing? I'm no property analyst, but for Aberdeen, I would put my guess towards a strong oil price - with the oil price high, oil jobs still pay well and there is a demand for oil employees. This makes up probably the majority of employment in/around Aberdeen (either oil companies or oil service companies).

For other areas in Scotland, not sure as to why this is the case.

The way the Scottish market works may also have an impact - houses are generally advertised as offers over a particular price (somewhere below/at market valuation), where in England/Wales it is an advertised price with room to negotiate below. The impact on Scottish prices is that instead of having to offer perhaps 30-40% over the asking price to secure a property (as was the case when the market was strongest) you may now only have to offer perhaps 10-15% over... But there is still demand for the prices on average to increase.

Foxes

yep defo agree with this - my flat in NW London was falling in value while adjoining areas of London were increasing in prices for a good 15 months during 2005-2006...but have now seen considerable activity and price increases over the last 9 months while the same adjoining areas are now falling......