Many so called stars in the 70s and 80s, like snooker star Steve Davis, were advised to put all their cash into property and now they are reaping the rewards for a gamble that could have crashed. That’s called investment. When I was a sprog growing up on Merseyside, the homes around the corner were going at approx £2k. If I had the money then and the realisation that things never get cheaper, I would have invested likewise.
Prices are reflected by supply and demand. The greater the demand for something, the more expensive it is, that’s life. If nobody suddenly decided to buy/move prices would crash.
The Labour Government, on their election trail 10 or so years ago, promised ‘affordable houses’ for first time buyers etc. They totally failed to produce. Instead, all ‘brown’ areas where homes are built on are ‘luxury’ apartments costing from £250k upwards. People are even selling back/side gardens to allow developers to shove a 5-6 flat block there.
In an ideal world all people would live in council run homes but it does not work like that because of the people that the council fill them with. Council estates are notoriously filled with those who do not and never have worked, foreigners, problem families and others who could not sadly, ever afford a place they can call theirs.
My own home cost £62k in the mid 90s, apparently it is now worth something in the region of £130k or more. That’s a joke. The house is worth nothing to me, its a place I live and eat. Some home owners are infatuated with the buy now quick sell, profiteering life style. How many times do you see newly built homes with for sale signs outside? They are people who sell within a couple of years, make a killing and move on. They are leeches and pariah who artificially inflate house prices. As long as they are allowed to do this, prices will stay up. There should be a law stating that people who buy homes should remain in said home for minimum 5 years. That would also cut demand.
When the recession hit the building industry I laughed my head off. The real estate agents laying people off because there was no demand. Lovely. Not the people getting laid off of course, but the situation. For years they have built cheap and sold expensive and now they were getting a bit of payback. Negative equity became a common place thing and people were panicking because what they had bought, looking to make on it later, suddenly became worth less that their current commitment, delightful!!!