Under 45? Oh dear!

[ChimpMaster]

Nope.

It is up to you to help shape the world.

Remember we are only hearing from the rich old people. The poorer ones don't have access to technology or the skills to use them. They also don't live in 500k houses.

It's too late already. The past 100 years of technological innovation has caused a snowball effect that can neither be stopped nor reversed. Enjoy what you have already and tell the children to enjoy the Earth for what it is now, for it will all soon be a nothing but a wonderful story for future generations to ponder.

[PurpleGorilla]

This chart goes out to 2013. Interesting.



Clearly ZIRP is having a huge effect.

[PurpleGorilla]

Nope.

It is up to you to help shape the world.

Here's a start.

Dear feckless, please stop drinking tall skinny caramel latte's from Starbucks.

[OwlHoot]

mortgage rates at the time....

https://www.thehanley.co.uk/standard...story_297.html

You might just see a connection.

In fact in 2008 houses were a lot more affordable than in 1990.

Of course anyone buying a house in 1990 didn't know they were going to crash in 1990's.

and think about this, people bought houses at high prices and swingeingly high interest rates and then their assets dropped like a stone.

You can't use the mid-nineties as a measure of "normality" it was a huge crash.

If they jacked up interest rates to 15% that house in Warminster won't fetch 300 grand.

But don't forget that these days earnings are way more precarious and patchy for many young people, even couples.

So even if they could afford a mortgage when they are on an even keel, so to speak, they would most likely be rejected due to past irregularities and future uncertainty.

Actually, I think the ECB and the BoE have gone in the wrong direction by tightening mortgage lending criteria even more. In the medium to long term it will cause way more trouble than if they had let the banks increase their risks, which I think is what the Yanks have now reverted to doing (in practice).

[BlasterBates]

This chart goes out to 2013. Interesting.



Clearly ZIRP is having a huge effect.

Very good so that chart illustrates exactly what I said.

There is no difference between affordability between the 1980's and 2000's

Your mistake is to focus on the 1990's, which was a housing crash and people losing their homes. The 1990's was the second worst recession in the 20th century.

This is like constantly comparing the stock market to 1930 after the crash.

[BlasterBates]

But don't forget that these days earnings are way more precarious and patchy for many young people, even couples.

So even if they could afford a mortgage when they are on an even keel, so to speak, they would most likely be rejected due to past irregularities and future uncertainty.

Actually, I think the ECB and the BoE have gone in the wrong direction by tightening mortgage lending criteria even more. In the medium to long term it will cause way more trouble than if they had let the banks increase their risks, which I think is what the Yanks have now reverted to doing (in practice).

Unemployment was actually higher in the 1980's and 1990's, lots of companies making people redundant. I don't actually see a worse job market these days.

A lot of young people bought houses and had them reposessed during the 1990's.

[SueEllen]

Here's a start.

Dear feckless, please stop drinking tall skinny caramel latte's from Starbucks.

Starbucks coffee tastes like tulip.

[PurpleGorilla]

Very good so that chart illustrates exactly what I said.

There is no difference between affordability between the 1980's and 2000's

Your mistake is to focus on the 1990's, which was a housing crash and people losing their homes. The 1990's was the second worst recession in the 20th century.

This is like constantly comparing the stock market to 1930 after the crash.

Looks to be that; affordability is the same but the size of deposits is hugely different.

[DimPrawn]

A lot of young people bought houses and had them reposessed during the 1990's.

I bought a flat after leaving home just at the peak, went into financial difficulty (the mortgage was nearly all my take home pay), managed by pure luck to sell it at the same price I bought it 12 months later, and had to go back to living with parents.

I bought in 1990. Everyone was saying "property prices only ever go up, get on the ladder before it's too late!".

[PurpleGorilla]

I bought a flat after leaving home just at the peak, went into financial difficulty (the mortgage was nearly all my take home pay), managed by pure luck to sell it at the same price I bought it 12 months later, and had to go back to living with parents.

I bought in 1990. Everyone was saying "property prices only ever go up, get on the ladder before it's too late!".

FWIW we bought late 2005, and at one point in 2009 a neighbour in a similar house sold theirs for £27k less than what we bought ours for.

But we didn't stretch, and could see that prices were bubbly.

In hindsight we should probably of stretched, as those sweet pre bubble mortgages will never be seen again.