I am just beginning to find the main forum on house prices quite tedious. Some people seem to be salivating on every piece of bad news...what motivates them?

The point has been made ad nauseum that the financial and economic situation is not good - I fully agree with the general thinking, but I do not wish to make a hobby of raking over the entrails of every bit of bad news.

Question - is the forum imploding under the weight of its own negativity?

Reminds me of an extract from an Irish paper. Journo's and analysts hype things both ways.

They watch the tide going out, roaring into his microphone "The tide is going out! The tide is going out! If things continue like this, we'll soon be able to walk to England! The end is nigh!" And equally then standing there just hours later watching the tide coming in say "The tide is coming in! The tide is coming in! If it continues like this Dublin will be flooded by Tuesday.

Seems familiar to me

Well on my own part it's hardly salivating. Micturating would be closer to the mark. Not so much on my own behalf, being skilled and case-hardened in the ways of the pauper, but over what prospects there are for my children.

The deranged behaviour of the property market, and the observation of some sort of covert inflation or devaluation beyond the official stats. that I just couldn't put my finger on over the last few years, had alerted even a peasant like me to the possibility that all was not right, so I went a-googlin', and found things like Mishblog, and the Wall Street Examiner, and most interesting of all, this yur site right yur.

I'm not a depressive, and am a big fan of chaos in general (the creative sort, punctuated equilibrium, introduces all sorts of opportunities, makes life interesting).
But I run this stuff through my peabrain, and I can't shake the notion, despite my best smiley-bunny efforts, that something out of the ordinary and very, very bad is coming over the hill.

Possibly worse than the nadir of the Heath-Callaghan-Thatcher years. Which I did not enjoy. And my parents' families were in skilled occupations, and fortuitously came into modest inheritances (due to a mass die-off of Victorians) during the Thirties, but they've told me enough to make me a teeny bit anxious.

So being a firm believer in the axiom that you never stop learning, and should never ignore free advice (but not necessarily act on it), and being well aware that (outside my trade) other, smarter, people know a whole lot more than I ever could, I lurk about here seeing if I can make sense of any of it, and if the various hobby-horses some Honourable Members have are actually cogent insights into the workings of the beast.

Apart from that, because I ken nowt, I've got nothing to contribute apart from the odd tiresome anecdote from an over-long and disreputable life, and flicking ink-pellets from the back of the class at the religious maniac 5th-columnists &c.

And I really, really want the BTL slumlords and jimcrack developers who've turned my beautiful city into a reeking slum to feel the cold breath of real economics on their scrawny necks. Not that I'm bitter

I'm just hanging out here hoping to pick up hints on when the bullet is coming, and if it can be even partially dodged when it does. That's when, not if.

I think you have a point.

Also, I find a tendency amongst some who hang out here to revel in the idea that that people who have bought during the boom are going to suffer in the crash rather sick.

Fair enough, there are a lot of people out there who have been very greedy and stupid in their belief that property is a one way bet, and I have little sympathy for any hardship people suffer as a result of greed.

However, the reality is that most of the pain on the way down is going to be felt by people who have merely been trying to do the best for themselves and their families. The real shysters will just wander off to pursue their next get rich quick scam.

I fully understand the angst on the main forum...first time buyers struggling like mad, etc. A massively unequal society does not breed good mental health.

We have had a prolonged boom encompassing a variety of assets...the financially astute have made substantive sums of money. The big problem with the main forum, as I see it, is that many members seem to forget that the main recipients of a severe downturn will be first time buyers struggling to meet their mortgage payments and the possible misery of house repossession. In short, the financially naive will be hammered.

The financially astute in a boom are usually financially astute in a downturn...something which is often forgotten! My older son works in a city investment bank and he assures me that many of the huge bonuses have already been salted away in off-shore cash accounts.

I agree with the general principles being discussed on here, viz. a possible severe downturn, but it gives me no pleasure to ponder on the possible consequences.

I call it narcissistic personality disorder (ie they love anything or anyone that idealises them in the role of 'hero'). Alternatively, I tend to equate with an almost cult like mentality. But, hey, call me crazy.

Your crazy. :-)


I got hooked into this site as many of the views expressed about the housing market being manipulated somehow,mirrored my doubts on what was happening in the UK.However the continual negativity does get boring and some personalities seem to relish the glass being half empty.
This site has become for some, a place to vent this negativity under the guise that they are somehow liberated and have knowledge that others do not, and are sleepwalking into a disaster of their own making when in reality the people who may suffer are working their butts off just to keep their heads above water and are just decent,family orientated members of society.

I was on the verge of signing contracts on the sale of my home but just backed out,and personally do not care if prices plummet.I do however have sympathy for others who will suffer for a long time to come.I looked around my house and thought why would I want to put myself through all the uncertainty of moving,renting and having different neighbours etc.I originally decided to move almost on a whim, then came across this site and allowed some of the views expressed into influencing my usually conservative outlook...........took me a few weeks to realise there are some sheeple on here too.Its just that they wear different hats,and moan a lot................

Every bit of bad news is an opportunity for someone to make money, so the wheels keeps on turning - just in reverse. No glass half full/empty psychology there. And the great thing about people getting in to difficulty is that many of them get out of that difficulty, while others stumble and fall. That's the way it should be.

The happy clappy crowd should get their heads around the idea that this mess could result in useful political change. It's important to keep track of what's happening, because other news sources simply don't give the breadth of information that you can find here.

This forum will continue to be an interesting read, even a few years from now.

Couldn't agree more with this sentiment "that this mess could result in useful political change" let us all truly hope so, the poltical situation in this country is appaling. GB will go down and down in history in a way he won't want to be remembered. Stearing the ship of political & statistical manipulation, economic mismanagement and spin. Blair took us into a war on a pack of enginereed lies which has disbalanced the global geopolitik, cognitive dissonance, denial and massive desensititation whilst 'prudent' Brown has just shafted the UK economy, sold whatever silver was left post-conservatives and now still tries to convince us he has some ability, we all see the king has no clothes he is as naked as a new born and no amount of spoin will change his legacy.

Let us see how this unfold and hope that the uk isn't left in an unrecoverable posistion but the political change with a good dollop of integrity is long overdue.

Some interesting points raised and the level of debate must be kept above gutter speculation. It is also easy to jump on a subject matter and fuel the fire to be part of the crowd. I come on this site to enjoy the debate and sarcasm! I suppose it’s up to individuals to lead the way but this part of the doom story is only just starting to reveal it’s head outside of this site. Maybe give people a little more time to say, “I told you so!” before Armageddon brushes by like an April shower. Will people lose out? Probably and I am also pretty sure the clever ones have already made sure that they are long gone….but like Arnie, they’ll be back!