W
walk2dewater
Guest
It appears to me that most women are extremely bullish on property, while men are less so. Has anyone else noticed this?
Markjbloggs
Registered User
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Duplex said:
More like total lack of logical analysis
Markjbloggs said:
I don't think that holds true really. I work in scientific research and the split between men and women is about 50/50. They are probably more tune with their emotions generally but it certainly doesn't seem to interfere with their ability to logically analyse a problem.
bearishbull
Registered User
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yeah women appear to beleive prices will only go up etc more than men and are less prepared to rent as they want their nest before they are priced out and are more likely to suffer fear (of not owning a nest in future due to continuing house price inflation) whereas men are more in the greed camp! not me though!
Well, given the user names...I don't know for sure. I will say that I work with men and they have all given me the benefit of their wisdom which amounts to "house prices have always gone up". Most of my friends, after a couple of years of telling me I was insane are now more inclined to understand that not everyone's circumstances are the same. They're all female.room305 said:Hi. Well bang goes that theory.
Have you noticed a gender bias yourself in the bulls/bears mix?
Some expert last year said that women applying for mortgages tended to be much more researched in the ramifications and had checked out everything before they went down the road. I don't know how true that is. Given some of the comments I've seen around here and around boards.ie's accommodation page I'm inclined to think there are a lot of people signed up to mortgages who are not necessarily au fait with all the ifs and buts involved in owing that amount of money and they are not all female by a long shot.
The more obvious split I see is people who own property bought in recent times, say 0-2.5 years ago and people who either own property longer or people who don't own property at all. As in, those who are particularly convinced in continued massive growth are those most at risk of major losses if and when a correction comes about.
I'd be interested to know what types of property women are buying. If they are buying one bedroomed thingies that will wreck their head inside two years, then I think they are not approaching this sensibly. If, on the other hand, they are buying property that they will be able to live in comfortably for five years, then that's probably not a bad idea. The problem, as I see it, is the vast majority of single incomes can just about afford one bedroomed apartments in Dublin. That's not a long term investment though - that's an investment heavily dependent on trading up within a relatively short space of time. I think most people in the position of expecting to trade up are likely to attach a great deal of faith in capital appreciation because it is absolutely vital for their plans. That's not really rational.
I know there are a bundle of threads out there on the subject of where housing is going to go, and whether people are bullish or bearish. I think the problem is social though, rather than economic. People want to be rich, but they don't want to necessarily work for it. That's why property is relatively popular in Ireland. Women are increasingly recognising that 1) the stakes are against them salary wise and 2) because of things like babies and all that the stakes are also against them pension wise. Additionally, relationships are increasingly transient, so women are looking not so much to nest - whatever you would want to believe - but to ensure that when the bad days come, they are not necessarily homeless and penniless.
In many respects, that's not a bad policy to follow and it governs my own thinking. But what is absolutely key is the kind of properties they are purchasing and based on my own situation, versus the average salary, the average price of a starter apartment in Dublin, my guess is they are buying the wrong property for the long term from a personal point of view. Me personally, I couldn't see myself staying in a one bedroomed apartment for more than 2 years, and I certainly wouldn't want to be stuck in one if the market turned. Certainly the market hasn't turned per se over the past eight years whereas I think realistically speaking, it should have, but that's no guarantee for the future. I think if a lot of women who bought in the last year bought a short term property, they are in for a nasty shock. If they didn't, then they'll be alright. If it is the nesting then my betting is that they all bought three bedroomed properties and rationally, I find that difficult to believe.
To be honest, if I had to choose a bias in terms of bullish/bearish, my money would be to check out the financial interest of the party concerned. Frankly, I think that that would be more revealing. I think that if they bought a property within the past 30 months they will move heaven and earth to convince you that property will continue to rise. If they bought before, or have refused to buy, or inherited, then the odds are they don't see the property market rising indefinitely. A lot of women have bought property in the past 30 months according to the banks...I'll bet if they hadn't you wouldn't be asking this question.