HOUSE PRICES ARE CRASHING

Ahhh. Run for the hills.

Sorry should have clarified, since housing is local, I was referring to the local average salary. btw, last time I looked the national average salary was £26,539

Oh I have no doubt that it is. I just don't believe any credible information can be gleaned from 1 months data. I'm currently looking at correlations with various indices over the last 20 years or so to see what the leading indicators are.

Imagining Sam wetting himself over each press release is, however, most entertaining.

Daytona

Please explain why student debts would 'cripple' someone, paying particular attention to the low interest rate and small amounts that need to be paid back.

I think you maybe confusing student loans - a particular low cost loan

- and student debts - debts incurred when you were a student, there's no reason to assume the second sort are low interest or a small amount.

Jim.

Adult students, particularly, may have crippling student loans. Especially if their education proves worthless or for any reason they are unemployed or unemployable. And if they fail, for whatever reason, to secure postponement of the debt.

Remember: one can no longer discharge student loans in bankruptcy. That is also true of Canada and the USA, largely because of too-clever ex-students who spoiled it for the genuinely distressed.

(In the USA especially, because student loans can be used for private tuition, "truck-driver schools" and "IT institutes", to mention just two vocational types, peddle federal student loans to the unemployed and then either teach them rubbish courses, or go bankrupt themselves without having taught anything.)

Chapter 11 is their friend, not yours.

Things are better in the UK, but not awfully much.

If they are "unemployed or unemployable", they dont have to repay their debt.

Student debts are mostly credit cards and bank overdrafts, charged at upwards of 25%.

You are correct, however the latter type are entirely the choice of the student. One might as well refer to 'crippling checkout assistant debts' for someone who is a checkout assistant and decides to take out a cc or other loan. The former type only need be repaid when income is above a particular level and there is no way that those repayments can be referred to as 'crippling'...for example, if you earn 1000/week, you would pay back 72. Or earn 1000 in a month, pay back 15. I dont think this qualifies as crippling, do you?

True, there's little point in singling out student debt here, however I do think it's worth looking at the difference in non-mortgage debt between that two situations. Is non-mortgage debt not considerably higher than the days when 35% was affordable?

Jim.

More fool them if thats the case, and in no way different to anyone elses debts.

Only if they file the proper paperwork, and many are incapable of so doing.

What the f*ck were they doing going to university then if they are too witless to fill forms in?

[this is reference to someone supposedly panicking because he wont pay his student debt back]

The person who posts in the reference you give states he is aged over 50. IIRC student loans have only been around for what, 10 years at most? So he was aged over 40 when he, of his own free will, gave up his job and instead decided to live off the rest of us for 3 years, taking out a loan deliberately (its not compulsory), but also too witless to fill some forms in (but bright enough for university apparently?) , even though he obviously had lots of spare time as he was, I presume, unemployed or he woudnt have had this problem. If any of what he wrote is true, which I doubt.

And when did you take out this first mortgage?

Jon

In message , Vince writes

Nooooo. Haven't you heard about the Guvermints new "Hill Tax"?

1% of earnings for each 10m above sea level. A tax on the North to pay for flood defences for the sinking South.

;-)

The Student Loan Company debt, yes, but the other debts aren't like that.

"Tim" wrote

Not sure I understand this.

The average credit card debt is about 7000 IIRC and costs about 15%. This is like servicing another 21000 of mortgage debt in terms of costs and that's without repaying any of the principal. Add that to the average mortgage and you get a truer picture.

About time you parasites gave something back.

"Tim" wrote in news:cmiji1$e0n$ snipped-for-privacy@titan.btinternet.com:

Heres my 2ps worth.

Right now the property market is something I am checking out everyday and I have seen a drop in prices since last month. A typical house in the affordable bracket for me was rare, now there are many houses appearing in quite close vicinity. My max spend is going to be 110,000. There are several houses up for sale on my road, and in my area. Six months ago houses would sell with-in weeks, now they seem not to be selling. The houses on my road have been up for sale for at lease 6 weeks. Could it be a monthly trend? I dont because I havent paid that much attention to the property market on yearly month to month bases but house prices do seem to becoming down. I for one would be reluctant to go and buy a house right now due to what I have seen, so surely consumer movements must govern the value of a product.

John

Is that right? Seven grand! I am shocked. As one who has never had any debts (apart from a small mortgage, paid off years ago) I find it amazing that people are *allowed* to amass such enormous debts. We don't have debtors' prisons any more, so what is to happen to these people who cannot pay up? Perhaps they assume that 'the Government' will somehow step in and 'save' them?

MM