House Price Poll

[andrewducker]

From

You'll note that the ratio is still well above the maximums of the bubbles in the 1970s and the 1990s.

[Poll #1337633]

Comments

[bracknellexile.livejournal.com]

In terms of making the house market viable again though, the ratio of salary to house price is a reasonable value if (and who knows what they're really thinking at the mo) the banks have it in their heads that they won't lend at more than 3.5x or 4x a salary to avoid bad debts.

And if banks won't lend to risky customers, no matter what the interest rate, then the ratio will have to drop for houses to become affordable.

[drplokta]

Actually, the banks lending at 3.5x to 4x salary indicates that they are taking lower interest rates into account. Back in the late 80s, when I bought my first house, it was 2.5x to 3x.

The main problem at present is that you need a deposit of 20% or 25% to get a decent mortgage.

[the-magician.livejournal.com]

The deposit is indeed my worry at the moment, because even if I can rent my house in London out for a sum that will cover the mortgage, I don't have a lump sum deposit to put down on a place here in Cambridge.

And it will probably take me more than six months for the difference between what I paid in London and what I'm paying in rent to generate enough money to pay for the house repairs in London ... so I can't start saving for a deposit until the second half of this year ... but if I sell off a lot of stuff (I don't need it!) and cut back on expenses (like conventions!), maybe I'll be able to look at buying something in second half 2010. Or a lottery win would be nice!