tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2948538160252327076.post2282924697679208474..comments2023-11-02T15:48:50.381+00:00Comments on UK Bubble UK Economy: The fearless UK homebuyer keeps on buying.Alice Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05753570123987780947noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2948538160252327076.post-66333993948154213632007-05-15T17:17:00.000+01:002007-05-15T17:17:00.000+01:00Don't be silly. London is not gaining 100,000 mill...Don't be silly. London is not gaining 100,000 millionaire foreign businessmen per year.<BR/><BR/>The vast majority of the immigration to London - indeed to the whole of the UK - is not-very-well-off people from not-very-well-off European countries. They mostly do low-paid jobs and live in the cheapest rented accommodation they can find. And in a few years, most of them will be gone again.<BR/><BR/>Population growth is not the problem. And the demographic shifts cited by some (e.g. increased divorce rates) are more than compensated for by the increase in people in their twenties living at home with their parent(s), and an increase in the popularity of house-shares.<BR/><BR/>Massive global liquidity surplus? Check. Speculative investment and bubble-think? You bet. Blame it on the migrants? Think again.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2948538160252327076.post-61634107367258557162007-05-15T16:38:00.000+01:002007-05-15T16:38:00.000+01:00"Of course, a handful of Russian oligarchs and ric..."Of course, a handful of Russian oligarchs and rich immigrants have virtually no impact on the UK housing market."<BR/><BR/>Well, this report says otherwise.<BR/><BR/>http://blogs.propertyfinder.com/news/2007/03/uk_house_prices_pushed_around_1.html<BR/><BR/>Key quote:<BR/><BR/>"2004 figures show net migration of British citizens away from London stood at -116,200 but the city continues to grow faster than any other area of the UK with immigration rates ensuring London’s net population increase of 1.61% annually."<BR/><BR/>I would say it's not just rich immigrants buying into the market, but also the money they invest (launder) through companies in 'The City' boosting the salaries of financial types immensely, contributing indirectly to the mad scramble for property.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2948538160252327076.post-11008264802054830562007-05-15T14:59:00.000+01:002007-05-15T14:59:00.000+01:00And the argument about planning restrictions is pr...And the argument about planning restrictions is pretty much the same as 10 or 20 years ago. Probably the one significant difference is legal immigration - but it won't take much for the Poles to go home and dilute the rental market even more. Still,there are plenty of -arians (Hung and Bulg) to take their place.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2948538160252327076.post-82479420361238037742007-05-15T12:01:00.000+01:002007-05-15T12:01:00.000+01:00Hmm. There's a word for this sort of behaviour.Of ...Hmm. There's a <A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bigger_fool_theory" REL="nofollow">word</A> for this sort of behaviour.<BR/><BR/>Of course, a handful of Russian oligarchs and rich immigrants have virtually no impact on the UK housing market. What goes on in the >$10M house price bracket is (and always has been) completely detached from reality anyway.<BR/><BR/>Even people who've owned their own homes for 20 years are still reliant on a "bigger fool" arriving to take that $600K 4-bed house off their hands; otherwise, they are just sitting on an imaginary profit...<BR/><BR/>BTW, some related news from <A HREF="http://property.scotsman.com/news.cfm?id=700192007" REL="nofollow">my part of the world</A>. My rent in Edinburgh was cheap three years ago and it hasn't budged one penny. No housing supply shortage from where I'm standing - there are rental properties standing empty and tenants are calling the shots.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2948538160252327076.post-25435080651652753362007-05-15T02:03:00.000+01:002007-05-15T02:03:00.000+01:00"Am I the only one that finds these growth rate ab..."Am I the only one that finds these growth rate absolutely mad?"<BR/><BR/>No. But obviously you're the only one in the U.K.<BR/><BR/>"Whenever I point these issues out, people respond with one word - supply."<BR/><BR/>I have another word: Russians. Or more generally: rich immigrants.<BR/><BR/>The bubble must suck for the younger generation(s), but for those ready to cash out and buy in Limousin, it has to be a dream come true.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com