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It's not just the UK -- housing prices are rising everywhere. I think it's a consequence of low interest rates. Because interest rates are so low, people can af
by jakobegger 7y ago
It's not just the UK -- housing prices are rising everywhere. I think it's a consequence of low interest rates. Because interest rates are so low, people can afford a 30 year mortage -- nobody would have been able to afford the interest rates on this in the 80ies or 90ies. This means that property owners can now ask for insane prices, and someone will pay them.
Also, since interest rates on savings accounts are practically zero, people look to real estate as a safe investment -- further driving housing prices.
- esotericn 7y agoHouse prices are just a matter of allocation; deciding in the competition whether you or I get to live in a small or large place; or indeed any place (tempered by our preferences on % of income/wealth to spend on housing). Nah, I'm talking about the actual existence of places to live. We used to _build new places_ all over the place, speculatively. The local and national governments used massive plots of land to build huge estates. We stopped doing that. The numbers and prices and stuff are besides the point. The home that I am currently occupying will, barring nationalization or excessive tax, be in my family for the next 60 years. The price of it is essentially irrelevant. What matters is that it exists, as one house which homes one family.