From the Nationwide's October House Price Survey, which estimates that prices have fallen by 14.6% over the past year (not adjusted for 5% inflation!):
The price of a typical house is now £158,872, almost £30,000 less than a year ago, but to put in context, still almost £30,000 more than five years ago.
So broadly speaking, adjusted for RPI inflation, you have just about broken even over the last five years, and the last year's falls have wiped out the previous four years' gains.
Fionnuala's previous adventures through time and space documented here.
Stormlight
1 hour ago
2 comments:
Mark,
TOTT but,
Re:http://markwadsworth.blogspot.com/2008/10/readers-letter-of-day_27.html, scroll down, folks.
STB: 'Mark, can you please explain to me why, if the country is up to it's eyeballs in debt and has to be bailed
out by government funds (taxes) which will eventually be paid by taxpayers, that that money cannot firstly be given
to us (the taxpayers) to be paid into a bank (nominated if you like by the Gumment) thus driving down debt owed by
the banks to we taxpayers?(etc)'.
MW: 'I can't explain it, because it is complete madness. The best short term fix for the banks would be debt-for-
equity swaps.(etc)'
Well, in that case why could there not be an 'investment' (to use the normal Gumment term) in equity, with the
'stakeholders' (being the investors or as we used to think of ourselves, voters) receiving a dividend from the debt
as is the norm via their equity? This could be easily done by sending a short letter to every person in the UK
stating 'You have invested via your gumment in Company xyx123 and will receive your share certificates soonest.
I do not understand that if the gumment uses our money to bail out banks(in their widest sense) that is OK but if
our money is transferred to the gumment via ourselves that is somehow 'complete madness'.
I may be simple but I still do not understand your reply.
Please elucidate,
STB.
STB, you could have commented on the earlier post - recent comments jump to the top, regardless of how old the post is.
I do not understand that if the gumment uses our money to bail out banks(in their widest sense) that is OK ...
Well, I don't think it is OK. Running banks is about as far from being a core function of The State as you can get. (The point of a debt for equity swap is that it does not involve gummint or taxpayers' money. A percentage of longer term bonds just get converted to the equivalent value in shares.)
... but if our money is transferred to the gumment via ourselves that is somehow 'complete madness'.
Perhaps I missed your point. If the gummint wants to transfer money to people, how about reductions in waste and tax cuts - if that's what you meant, then I am all in favour.
My point was, I personally don't want to invest in bank shares, not now, not ever, and in particular not now. So why would I want the gummint to do so on my behalf? Having said that, your idea of just dishing out the share certificates to Joe Public is far from the worst idea, and one that's been suggested before!
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