Rising house prices - good news?? (mortgages, buying, construction)

[geoff956]

We hear today that house prices are rising in the UK.
How can this possibly be good news for the large number of people who don't have a hope in hell of buying a property even at the existing inflated prices?
Is it in fact good news at all? Seems to me there's a general desire to climb back on the borrowing wagon we fell off not so long ago.

[kevxu]

Originally Posted by geoff956

We hear today that house prices are rising in the UK.
How can this possibly be good news for the large number of people who don't have a hope in hell of buying a property even at the existing inflated prices?
Is it in fact good news at all? Seems to me there's a general desire to climb back on the borrowing wagon we fell off not so long ago.

The recent report in the fall in wages in the U.K. would certainly seem an ominous counterpoint.

[Mag3.14]

Originally Posted by geoff956

We hear today that house prices are rising in the UK.
How can this possibly be good news for the large number of people who don't have a hope in hell of buying a property even at the existing inflated prices?
Is it in fact good news at all? Seems to me there's a general desire to climb back on the borrowing wagon we fell off not so long ago.

House prices outside London and the south east grew by 1%. London and its vicinity is a crazy economy almost a law unto itself. Its property prices have risen almost eight times as fast as the rest of the country; fueled by cheap money from the BofE and government backed mortgages. The problem is that construction isn't producing the supply side so prices are inflating. If the minimum wage increases so will the cost of living, and as Britain's manufacturing sector deteriorates and its financial sector keeps eating more of the country's GDP, inequality will increase even more rapidly.

London is almost becoming a republic of its own!

[dunno what to put here]

No. The market in London/SE in particular is overheated, there is great demand but little housing being built. Houses are so expensive because so many people want one, but there are so few available. This isn't a good situation to be in - these houses aren't necessarily expensive on their own merit, simply because so many people want one.

[geoff956]

None of this adds up does it. I'm in Wales and I read today that house prices here have risen the fastest at 4.3%. This is claptrap. All I see around here are houses being reduced because there are no buyers.
I really do wonder if this is being 'talked up' by estate agents and other vested interest.
As regards London, didn't I read that a lot of property is attracting buyers from abroad and therefore inflating prices even more?