Whats your mortgage on your main property (ie counting BTL/investements)?

[Cyberman]

So your statement that your house represents an equity value of 5x your mortgage is utter carp and you admit it.

Even if the housing market recovers in a few years you have no idea if you have positive or negative equity at this point or what the value will represent in 5 years time.

There are so few houses actually selling any mythical values you can come up with at the moment are just so much hot air.

Not at all... you are talking carp. I was just agreeing that there are few or no buyers at the moment. There may be no buyers for a Monet painting at the moment, but that does not mean that intrinsic value is not still there.

If there are no buyers, you wait until there is. That is if you want to sell. Personally, I have no wish or need to sell.

[DodgyAgent]

Really DA?

considerably more

but I think owing money to a bank is better than the other way round

[TykeMerc]

Not at all... you are talking carp. I was just agreeing that there are few or no buyers at the moment. There may be no buyers for a Monet painting at the moment, but that does not mean that intrinsic value is not still there.

If there are no buyers, you wait until there is. That is if you want to sell. Personally, I have no wish or need to sell.

What you fail to comprehend is that a house has no intrinsic value compared to a great work of art.
It can be reproduced at will, the area can nosedive in social status or suffer from any number of environmental factors that can permanently destroy its notional "value". A house is only worth what the market is prepared to pay for it so making any claims of positive let alone multiple positive equity value when there is a very bullish market (if any at all) is naive at best.

[Spacecadet]

What you fail to comprehend is that a house has no intrinsic value compared to a great work of art.
It can be reproduced at will, the area can nosedive in social status or suffer from any number of environmental factors that can permanently destroy its notional "value". A house is only worth what the market is prepared to pay for it so making any claims of positive let alone multiple positive equity value when there is a very bullish market (if any at all) is naive at best.

surely a great work of art is also only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

[original PM]

surely a great work of art is also only worth what someone is willing to pay for it

First rule of economics? something is only worth what someone else will pay for it?

[TykeMerc]

surely a great work of art is also only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

Indeed, but with the appropriate provenance it's a unique item and part of a very very limited supply with a history of real intrinsic value unlike a house which is part of a huge supply unless it's a very niche property which let's face it is not what CyberTory will own.

[Cyberman]

Indeed, but with the appropriate provenance it's a unique item and part of a very very limited supply with a history of real intrinsic value unlike a house which is part of a huge supply unless it's a very niche property which let's face it is not what CyberTory will own.

Youre mixing up supply with existence. There may be lots in existence but few people at the moment are trying to sell 4 bed detached properties, so supply is actually very low. Therefore houses prices at my level are holding up well. You're losing your argument Tykeyboy!!

[DiscoStu]

Youre mixing up supply with existence. There may be lots in existence but few people at the moment are trying to sell 4 bed detached properties, so supply is actually very low. Therefore houses prices at my level are holding up well. You're losing your argument Tykeyboy!!

They would be, except demand right now is even lower than supply...

[Cyberman]

They would be, except demand right now is even lower than supply...

It may well be, but the only people that are selling are those that are foreclosures, or builders of 10 a penny flats. Very few are trying to sell in my area at all, so prices will hold up quite nicely.

[Fred Bloggs]

3 more £90 payments and the house is all mine, no mortgage from Jan 24th 2009