Things you think are overpriced
Discussion
The Leaper said:
So, that does not mean that they are overpriced. It's what the market prescribes. Maybe other PHers realise this hence the reason why house prices has not been mentioned before.
R.
Someone can still make a subjective assessment whether they think a house is overpriced or not. Besides which a house for sale today is going to be pitched high anyway. R.
The Leaper said:
BlackG7R said:
HOUSES !!!..........I can't believe nobody has said houses, probably the largest purchase any of us make, and the one that soaks up the most of our disposable income.
So, that does not mean that they are overpriced. It's what the market prescribes. Maybe other PHers realise this hence the reason why house prices has not been mentioned before.R.
The only way a lot of FTB's can get in now is by utilising things like Help to Buy which will turn into absolute millstones for them in years to come. Earnings multiples allowed on mortgages now are also much higher than in days gone by. Obviously low interest rates enable that too.
Nonetheless, despite low rates & increased multiples the government has still had to artificially inflate FTBs ability to buy in with HTB in order to keep the market from falling. Without instruments like HTB there is no way house prices would be as high as they are IMO.
Its not the only reason - foreign investors are the other major one , especially in London.
Wombat3 said:
Houses are undoubtedly over priced IMO. An old-school estate agent I met once put it succinctly when he said "House prices continue to rise as long as first time buyers can afford to get in"
The only way a lot of FTB's can get in now is by utilising things like Help to Buy which will turn into absolute millstones for them in years to come. Earnings multiples allowed on mortgages now are also much higher than in days gone by. Obviously low interest rates enable that too.
Nonetheless, despite low rates & increased multiples the government has still had to artificially inflate FTBs ability to buy in with HTB in order to keep the market from falling. Without instruments like HTB there is no way house prices would be as high as they are IMO.
Its not the only reason - foreign investors are the other major one , especially in London.
Houses in the UK are certainly overpriced especially for the quality a lot of them offer. The UK housing market is nothing short of a pyramid scheme where we are socially conditioned to get on the "property ladder" by any means. This mantra and conditioning keeps people feeding into the bottom of the market to keep the whole thing afloat. When we looked at moving back to the UK my wife put her foot down and just said no. with a 300k budget we couldn't find anything worth living in down in Devon or Cornwall. The only way a lot of FTB's can get in now is by utilising things like Help to Buy which will turn into absolute millstones for them in years to come. Earnings multiples allowed on mortgages now are also much higher than in days gone by. Obviously low interest rates enable that too.
Nonetheless, despite low rates & increased multiples the government has still had to artificially inflate FTBs ability to buy in with HTB in order to keep the market from falling. Without instruments like HTB there is no way house prices would be as high as they are IMO.
Its not the only reason - foreign investors are the other major one , especially in London.
Car insurance is also overpriced. It seems that the British public have been conditioned to accept this is normal and just part of life. The biggest scam is having to name specific drivers and not being able to drive any car at any time provided its insured.
I’m not sure I agree that houses are overpriced in a lot of the UK.
I would definitely say HTB hasn’t helped FTBs in to the market. It’s just jacked up the lower end prices and pumped up builders’ profits. In many cases the quality of stock being offered to buyers is utterly disgraceful and in those cases there is a stronger argument for it being overpriced. New build houses shouldn’t need their external walls taken down and reassembled to fix poor work!
When I lived in the city centre you tended to have a mix of above average, for their age and against national average, earning individuals or average earning young professional couples, living in 2 & 3 bedroom flats. Sale prices were 2.5-3.5 times gross household salary.
In our current (new build) estate, 3 bedroom homes are available from 3 times 2 national average wages. The same is true in a raft of new build estates all within 3-5 miles of here.
If you want to delve in to used stock, you can knock a half multiple off the prices.
Sure, London and the South East have a very different reality, but there’s more to the UK than them. For as long as I can remember, house price multiples were always talked about as 3 times salary was about the limit. So up here I don’t really agree that things are overpriced.
I would definitely say HTB hasn’t helped FTBs in to the market. It’s just jacked up the lower end prices and pumped up builders’ profits. In many cases the quality of stock being offered to buyers is utterly disgraceful and in those cases there is a stronger argument for it being overpriced. New build houses shouldn’t need their external walls taken down and reassembled to fix poor work!
When I lived in the city centre you tended to have a mix of above average, for their age and against national average, earning individuals or average earning young professional couples, living in 2 & 3 bedroom flats. Sale prices were 2.5-3.5 times gross household salary.
In our current (new build) estate, 3 bedroom homes are available from 3 times 2 national average wages. The same is true in a raft of new build estates all within 3-5 miles of here.
If you want to delve in to used stock, you can knock a half multiple off the prices.
Sure, London and the South East have a very different reality, but there’s more to the UK than them. For as long as I can remember, house price multiples were always talked about as 3 times salary was about the limit. So up here I don’t really agree that things are overpriced.
CDB1983 said:
Car insurance is also overpriced. It seems that the British public have been conditioned to accept this is normal and just part of life. The biggest scam is having to name specific drivers and not being able to drive any car at any time provided its insured.
If that was true the insurance companies would be making huge profits from motor policies. They’re not.bad company said:
CDB1983 said:
Car insurance is also overpriced. It seems that the British public have been conditioned to accept this is normal and just part of life. The biggest scam is having to name specific drivers and not being able to drive any car at any time provided its insured.
If that was true the insurance companies would be making huge profits from motor policies. They’re not.A quicky Google has the USA between $1600-2300 average. The UK is under £500.
I also don't like the idea any driver can drive any car. That could potentially allow high risk drivers in very high risk cars without paying a fair premium.
CDB1983 said:
Car insurance is also overpriced.
Car insurance is stupidly cheap. The average premium in 2017 was £485. With youngsters paying £2000 ish, and other high risk drivers paying £1000+, it means there are tens of millions of us paying a couple of hundred quid, or less.
I pay around £300 for comp on a Merc GLC in the London suburbs. A wing mirror is about £800. Plus I get £50m tp property damage cover and unlimited tp injury cover. It's madness. The same insurance in Germany would be €1500, and would give me automatic any driver cover that I don't want or need.
CDB1983 said:
Car insurance ... The biggest scam is having to name specific drivers and not being able to drive any car at any time provided its insured.
A bigger scam would be drivers with 30 year clean records and years of no-claims discount paying the same as 17 year olds that have just passed their test.NickCQ said:
CDB1983 said:
Car insurance ... The biggest scam is having to name specific drivers and not being able to drive any car at any time provided its insured.
A bigger scam would be drivers with 30 year clean records and years of no-claims discount paying the same as 17 year olds that have just passed their test.
k should I subsidise some other couple of our age who want their teenage kids to drive the car as well???If I want to drive someone else's car, I have DOC on my policy that gives me tp cover. If I need comp, I'll get added on to their policy....and pay the right amount for the privilege. I don't expect to be subsidised by someone else who doesn't need to drive other cars.
Driver101 said:
I don't think car insurance is too bad.
A quicky Google has the USA between $1600-2300 average. The UK is under £500.
I also don't like the idea any driver can drive any car. That could potentially allow high risk drivers in very high risk cars without paying a fair premium.
Totally agree. My premiums are ok and I see no need for drivers to be able to drive any car. Someone is creating a problem that doesn't exist for the vast majority.A quicky Google has the USA between $1600-2300 average. The UK is under £500.
I also don't like the idea any driver can drive any car. That could potentially allow high risk drivers in very high risk cars without paying a fair premium.
Car insurance is dirt cheap. I can pay £400/yr to fully comp a £40k car?!?
Gap insurance is even crazier to me. I paid less than £150 for 3yrs of "back to invoice" GAP insurance, meaning had i wrote my last car off after 3yrs they'd be paying out around £15k, for a £50/yr premium. Got to the point where I wanted it to be stolen......
Gap insurance is even crazier to me. I paid less than £150 for 3yrs of "back to invoice" GAP insurance, meaning had i wrote my last car off after 3yrs they'd be paying out around £15k, for a £50/yr premium. Got to the point where I wanted it to be stolen......
NickCQ said:
CDB1983 said:
Car insurance ... The biggest scam is having to name specific drivers and not being able to drive any car at any time provided its insured.
A bigger scam would be drivers with 30 year clean records and years of no-claims discount paying the same as 17 year olds that have just passed their test.What I don’t agree with is when you have two cars and your NCB doesn’t apply to the second car, who’s driving? Me or the car?!
I can only drive one car at the time so the NCB should apply to both.
TwigtheWonderkid said:
CDB1983 said:
Car insurance is also overpriced.
Car insurance is stupidly cheap. The average premium in 2017 was £485. With youngsters paying £2000 ish, and other high risk drivers paying £1000+, it means there are tens of millions of us paying a couple of hundred quid, or less.
It doesn't mean that at all, and you know it. If £2000 was an outlier (very likely as there are many more low risk than high risk drivers) it's very likely tens of millions are paying an average premium of £300 - £400.
On another note, the average premium in 2019 was £503. How is that stupidly cheap?
ChocolateFrog said:
Cups of tea from cafes.
£2 for a 1p tea bag and 250 grams of never quite boiling water.
I never understand why people moan about the cost of things like this. £2 for a 1p tea bag and 250 grams of never quite boiling water.
You're not paying g £2 for a cup of tea.
You're paying for the use of the chair you sit in, the toilets provided, the staff to make it, serve it to you and towards the rent, heating bills, business rates, insurance, tax etc, etc.
So yes, you probably are paying only 1p for the tea...
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