I started this blog in June 2007 asking these questions: Are we in a massive asset bubble that will blow up in our faces ??? - ANSWERED YES ! Is western and particularly British society on the verge of social collapse??? What are the best common sense long term investment strategies to keep you rich? When will consumption/debt bubble economics end and a real savings/production economy begin ???

Thursday 28 August 2008

US Home prices fall a record 15.9% year over year

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. home prices fell at a record rate in June, putting more pressure on an already-fragile financial system.
The Case-Shiller index of 20 major metropolitan areas for the month dropped 15.9% from June 2007, Standard & Poor's reported Tuesday.
The Case-Shiller index, which tracks multiple sales of the same homes, is considered by many observers to be the best gauge of national and metro-level real-estate values. While only slightly worse than the 15.8% decrease seen in the previous month, June's drop represents a new record decline.
Prices tracked in a separate index of 10 cities fell a record 17.0% in the past year.
"While there is no national turnaround in residential real-estate prices, it is possible that we are seeing some regions struggling to come back, which has resulted in some moderation in price declines at the national level," said David Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor's. "Nevertheless, not one market is showing a positive return over the past 12 months and seven of the metro areas are reporting declines in excess of 20%."

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UK House prices fall by more than ten per cent



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Tuesday 12 August 2008

Mortgage products available for buy to let borrowers have fallen by 93 per cent in the past year

In the last 12 months, the total number of mortgage products available has fallen from 4,384 to 307.

On top of the scarcity of products, those in possession of buy to let mortgages are also facing steeper interest rates on those mortgages that are still available, according to figures from price comparison site moneysupermarket.com.

The average rate for 75 per cent loan-to-value BTL products has increased by 0.35 per cent to 7.33 per cent in the past year, and by 0.63 per cent to 7.46 per cent for 85 per cent LTV products.

The increase in interest rates may mean landlords will have to increase rents or find the shortfall themselves.

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