Oh dear, and it was only the other day the tory trolls where on here jerking off to the IMF report. The IMF loves welfare cuts, so it was hardly a shock that they approve of austerity measures, just as long as the rich elites are not suffering.

It seems confidence is falling. Not really surprising when we have a govt of the rich for the rich. So no wonder people are getting a little worried. Still, I’m sure Call me ‘Middle class’ Dave, and Pip Squeak think they know what they are doing………

Please could you explain why falling house prices are a ‘bad thing’ for the country, and for the ‘workers’ in particular.

@2. Thomas Hobbes: “Please could you explain why falling house prices are a ‘bad thing’ for the country, and for the ‘workers’ in particular.”

House prices are about the same as they were six months ago. Ignore the monthly figures because the sample size is too small at the moment.

Lower house prices and rental costs are good for workers. The only ethical way to achieve this is to build more homes; the unethical solutions are genocide or deportation.

But house prices are important to all of us, even if we do not wish to sell or buy. Given that the UK effectively imposes a cap on the total number of homes, selling prices are relatively unaffected by new build; selling price is determined by buyer confidence. Selling prices signal whether Jo Public thinks it is the right time to borrow.

“The latest results for the Nationwide House Price Index also made depressing reading.”

Exactly what planet do you people live on ?

Median wage – 25K

Average house price – around 160K – more than 6 times median wage. And apparently it’s a good thing if they rise ?

Exactly how is someone, perhaps burdened with 25K of debt after uni, going to save the 50K or so they’ll need for a deposit on that house, with a loan of 4x earnings (the interest on which may prove unpayable when rates rise)?

The story of the last 30 years is the story of inflation being kept down by a combination of mass immigration depressing bottom-end wages while the Chinese productivity miracle kept High Street goods cheap. Meanwhile, cheap and easy credit fuelled the property asset bubble, and the failure of the ‘trickle-down’ theory inflated property even more, as the City bonuses and massively increased director salaries went into houses and land rather than engineering start-ups.

And you really think this is a GOOD thing ?

Adding to the chorus here. The only depressing thing about the house price numbers today is that they were up, not down like they need to be.

Re; The IMF

Intresting article in the Telegraph, of all places

“The IMF itself has become the problem as Europe’s woes return

Once a quorum of big names says the game is up in a debt crisis, events move fast and furiously”

“.Let us be honest, the Fund has become a font of incoherence, an engine of moral hazard. In August, it abolished its credit ceiling and created a new tool to rush fresh debt to states that need more debt like a hole in the head.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/8012175/The-IMF-itself-has-become-the-problem-as-Europes-woes-return.html