Quote:
Originally Posted by GreyWolf
OK.. the home market is crappy, but likely to get worse and that has it's own ripple effect. But... more ripples can come from other countries - eg.. smell the overpriced UK home market is going to take a hit next - and the UK was a traditionally high investor in US markets - so can see a ripple from there. It's a vicious cycle and going to be seriously hard to stop.
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The golden question is, how bad will it get?
The UK market is certainly starting to see the effects, I've been following the UK property market very closely because I'm about to buy a place.
In Northern Ireland property prices are down 8% from Jan 07 - June 07
The Bank of England have announced that loans will now be harder to get. Much higher interest rates.
Yesterday the IMF warns that UK house prices are at risk of falling.
The UK buy to let market is in trouble, rising costs (interest rates specifically) are lowering profits and in a lot of cases rent is no longer paying the mortages.
Most first time buyers in the UK completely priced off the market, average property prices costing anywhere from 5 - 10 times their yearly income.
Reposessions are up around 30% from last year, this will only get a lot worse once the next batch of fixed rate mortages end in 07 and these people see massive hikes in their interest rates.
Some analyists are predicting house prices may drop by 15% in 2008.
This all paints a rather gloom picture in my opinion. It also makes me wonder if I should wait and see what happens in the next few months before buying a place
