Saturday 17 November 2007

Pockets of pain

The property pages are getting rather negative, rather quickly. Here we have the times talking about pockets of pain in the suburbs. It seems that the wealthy will suffer because of "weak bonuses" while the poor will be hurt by the end of easy credit.

Property is now but a spectrum of misery From the richest to the poorest, all will suffer; all are punished. No bonuses, no credit and no more ridiculous house price inflation.

Incidentally, this article from the times was their most read internet page today.

Property prices slip in suburbs

The most comprehensive picture of the gloom awaiting some homeowners next year is revealed today, as experts say the value of millions of homes will fall.

The wealthy will lose out as weak bonuses fail to lift the housing market, but those at the other end of the scale will suffer even more from lenders declaring an end to easy credit. Those in Britain’s new “pockets of pain” will be owners of homes worth below £350,000; owners of homes selling for between £1 million and £2 million in London and the South East; and those in any suburbs made popular by their proximity to a smarter area, estate agents say.

The Nationwide Building Society forecast yesterday that house-price inflation would tumble from near-double figures to zero by the end of next year, meaning that prices would fall in real terms across the country. Prices in the North, the Midlands and in East London are likely to fall next year, estate agents forecast, although a sharp downturn in prices is still seen as unlikely. Some economists believe that the buy-to-let market would be especially vulnerable. Those who bought new citycentre apartments are warned that their values will fall because of oversupply.


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