that's true...
The fact is that the "bubble" is ficticious based, in large part, on jealousy. Houses in London, or commutable to London are expensive - we all know this. However, I can remember being able to buy a large (like 4+ bedroom) house in Leeds for half of what my parent's 3 bed semi in Surrey cost. Why? Because there is more desire to live in Surrey, so the price is driven up.

Of course, under New Labour, this was seen as unfair, somehow, so we've seen a concerted effort to denegrate the South East by building on green belt land and making sure all the kosovans and other immigrants are housed in that area, despite there being street upon street of empty houses available in Yorkshire (Sheffield, mainly). Now, I like the parts of the North, but I am sensible enough to realise that downtown Chapeltown is not as desirable as Notting Hill or Chelsea.

The houses that are crashing are those where suddenly your £40k terrace in Bradford was worth £210k because a similar house in London raises bids in excess of £400k. Buy to let had a lot to do with it, but basically, it was greed that pushed up inflated prices and now they are reaping what they sewed to a large extent...
(Chad, Fri 23 Jan 2009, 16:35, 2 replies)

Yes.
It's a lie that a house is an investment. It's a place to live. I bought because I like the idea that I'll have a house at the end of things (though I have heard of studies that show that it's financially better to rent and invest rather than buy) and that I'm not beholden to anyone for what I do to the house. But ultimately, the house price is irrelevant to me because the basic equation is "I pay X, I have somewhere to sleep".

The only real way house prices are relevant are 1)Lower house prices=lower taxes (hopefully) and 2)If we do upgrade, the price differential will be smaller.
(Richy_T hundreds if not thousands of dollars, Fri 23 Jan 2009, 16:42, closed)

Hehe
I live near Chapeltown. I think its a lovely place and much nicer than Maida Vale.
(powervator and NONE SHALL PASS, Fri 23 Jan 2009, 16:47, closed)