Fantastic news – UK house prices to soar by 21% over next 5 years!

[NotAnotherNewNappy]

I was just leaving the supermarket when this headline for the Daily Express caught my eye. The paper is all in a tizz as a report has been published predicting house prices will increase by a fifth over the next five years, taking the price of an average home from 215k to 260k. You could practically hear the editor rubbing his palms together and singing 'ch-ching' as he typed.

I couldn't help thinking who is this 'fantastic news' for, really? Certainly not all the young families who are struggling to get a deposit together/afford to repay a mortgage while simultaneously struggling with university debts and the rising cost of living.

TBH, it feels more like a smack in the face than fantastic news

From my understanding property prices are set to drop to 63% over the next ten years. Hopefully wages won't go down with it.

I think the country is going to be on a long term recovery than short term. If either the Bank of England or the Government had a knee jerk reaction it could destroy the UK.

Hopefully future governments will learn from this that we should not be so heavily supported by the US's economy.

i think a fall is more likely than a rise as unemployment rises and people's discretionary spending money declines. Add in higher interest rates working through at some stage and the housing market still looks keenly overvalued.

A 21% rise is of little benefit to anyone except someone cashing out for good. If my £500k house gains 21% it will be worth £605k. However the £700k house I might want to upgrade to at that stage would be worth £847k. Will my wages and savings have kept up accordingly? doubtful.

So an alternative headline for the same story could have been "House prices set to lag behind inflation for years to come".

Funny what a bit of spin can do to change a story!