Am I stoopid for not buying a house?

They're off the beaten track generally because they're either old farming villages which are defunct or at old quarries which are defunct.

That happens too, but generally where there are actually other people living.

FoFP

You may care to look up the history of the clearances.

I have no idea who Samuel Clemens is. I've always attribute this to Keynes.

This is not something to be proud of. Especially when it's so easy to Look up Samuel Langhorn Clemens. Anyhow he was a famous steamboat pilot and miner. He did a few other things as well.

He is also the star character in P J Farmer's excellent SF series 'To Your Scattered Bodies Go'.

Jings I had forgotten that, the only PJF stuff I have easily to hand is the (incomplete) World of Tiers series, because he's written a few more since I bought the anthology.

Andrew McP

That's got a cute ring to it. Go on then, what are the other three?

Er... Neddy, Dobbin, and Repaymentholiday

Andrew McP

PS I suppose if pushed I'd go for interest rate, average salary multiple, and B&Q profits. But I might need a few more horsemen if I think about it harder, so this could quickly turn into a Monty Python sketch. Probably better to stick with Neddy & Dobbin.

"Mark Twain" was his nom-de-guerre.

Y'know, I think you're right, it was Keynes.

FoFP

But not the movie IIRC. Boy did they bugger up the chance of a great TV series with that one.

FoFP

damn I'd forgotten that, I saw 20 minutes of one episode of it and never watched it again, and now you have reminded me of its utter hideousness. Would make a good film(s) if done properly.

A lot of people who already own a home here in the UK, and especially those who have recently bought one might not be too happy about people saying house prices are likely to fall ;)

I think the US will always have a big influence and bearing on what happens in the rest of the world because of the global society and how the economies are all linked etc it can have a ripple affect around the world.

Any comments people make about whether house prices are likely to go up or down is just really their own personal speculative opinion. Nobody knows for sure what will happen.

My opinion is that you may very well be right. We might eventually start to see a gradual fall in house prices.

At the moment the number of homes being repossessed in the UK are at the highest levels they have been since Labour came to power in 1997. If Interest rates continually creep upwards over the next few years a lot of people could struggle especially if they have taken out hefty mortgages and overborrowed.

At the moment in the UK though there is a shortage of housing and prices could just as easily stay the same or even steadily increase in price.

You have to take into account the influx of people into the UK. There have been a lot of Poles arriving in Britain to live and work, and there will soon be quite a number of Romanians and Bulgarians arriving when they become part of the EU on 1st January 2007.

The government claim that 1.1 million new homes will be built by the year 2016. I'm not so sure that this will be enough to cover the people presently needing homes never mind the number of people that will come into the country from elsewhere to live and work both legally and illegally. I've already had a moan to my local MP about this.

My personal opinion is similar to yours; that house prices are ahead of where they should be and a correction is due. Whether there will be a correction or not, and how much a correction there would be and over what period of time remains to be seen. We could both be completely wrong on this though.

I am quite happy to continue renting at the moment. A lot of people say that it is dead money, but I personally think for my situation it isn't dead money, but it is the sensible thing to do.

If you believe house prices are very high as I do, then it wouldn't be wise to buy when they are high. I have always believed in the motto of "buy low and sell high".

Instead of having a hefty mortgage to pay out you can always share a rented place with a bunch of other people, or if you are still quite young stay with your parents for a bit longer and pay them rent.

The extra money that you would have had to pay in mortgage repayments and other bills you could always save and invest that until a time when house prices are more affordable.

It is a very depressing situation at the moment and very difficult for first time buyers especially young single people and couples to get onto the property ladder.

At this moment in time though and in the current situation I wouldn't rush into anything but be very patient and one day you will own your own house. Things will eventually change, they always do.

John

A lot of people who already own a home here in the UK, and especially those who have recently bought one might not be too happy about people saying house prices are likely to fall ;)

I think the US will always have a big influence and bearing on what happens in the rest of the world because of the global society and how the economies are all linked etc it can have a ripple affect around the world.

Any comments people make about whether house prices are likely to go up or down is just really their own personal speculative opinion. Nobody knows for sure what will happen.

My opinion is that you may very well be right. We might eventually start to see a gradual fall in house prices.

At the moment the number of homes being repossessed in the UK are at the highest levels they have been since Labour came to power in 1997. If Interest rates continually creep upwards over the next few years a lot of people could struggle especially if they have taken out hefty mortgages and overborrowed.

At the moment in the UK though there is a shortage of housing and prices could just as easily stay the same or even steadily increase in price.

You have to take into account the influx of people into the UK. There have been a lot of Poles arriving in Britain to live and work, and there will soon be quite a number of Romanians and Bulgarians arriving when they become part of the EU on 1st January 2007.

The government claim that 1.1 million new homes will be built by the year 2016. I'm not so sure that this will be enough to cover the people presently needing homes never mind the number of people that will come into the country from elsewhere to live and work both legally and illegally. I've already had a moan to my local MP about this.

My personal opinion is similar to yours; that house prices are ahead of where they should be and a correction is due. Whether there will be a correction or not, and how much a correction there would be and over what period of time remains to be seen. We could both be completely wrong on this though.

I am quite happy to continue renting at the moment. A lot of people say that it is dead money, but I personally think for my situation it isn't dead money, but it is the sensible thing to do.

If you believe house prices are very high as I do, then it wouldn't be wise to buy when they are high. I have always believed in the motto of "buy low and sell high".

Instead of having a hefty mortgage to pay out you can always share a rented place with a bunch of other people, or if you are still quite young stay with your parents for a bit longer and pay them rent.

The extra money that you would have had to pay in mortgage repayments and other bills you could always save and invest that until a time when house prices are more affordable.

It is a very depressing situation at the moment and very difficult for first time buyers especially young single people and couples to get onto the property ladder.

At this moment in time though and in the current situation I wouldn't rush into anything but be very patient and one day you will own your own house. Things will eventually change, they always do.

John

Barclays Capital Equity Gilt Study says 5.2% real (1.2% gilts, 1.0% cash) over 106 years.

Daytona