R
my statement was more directed towards the people that are complaining that they got the 100% mortgages. They had a part to play and the banks had a part to play in it. Therefore, within their own individual circumstances, everyone was to blame.
to be fair (and having worked in property for 15 years in Ireland), I think a lot of people feared that if they did not buy then they would never get a foot on the property ladder and to a large extent these fear tactics were essentially fuelled by developers and the government in close cahoots with the banks. Whilst I don't agree with the excessive spending habits of some people during the boom, there are a huge number of first time buyers living in small starter homes that will never be able to get out of the negative equity trap due to the outrageous overvaluing of property at the peak. I think its all too easy to accuse them of overborrowing when those not in the same situation sit in their own ivory tower handing down judgement. I bought a house in 2004 for 224K my neighbour bought the very same house in 2006 for 370K, do I delight in her misfortune? No. I think a lot of people did what they had to do at the period in time and maybe those more fortunate should just back off.
No, that's the point they did NOT have to bite the bullet. What they should have done is wait until they could afford something that they were planning on staying in longer term, or that would have been somewhat suitable for any family planning they had.People at that age could only wait so long before they had to bite the bullet and get a home while the banks would still give them the money.
And if those sensible people had waited longer, they would have watched their friends homes decrease in value. Nobody was faced with just one choice, there was always the option of not buying!!!! You would now be much better off.This meant that a lot of the sensible people who waited, saved and watched their friends homes increase ridiculously in value got badly stung when they felt they had no choice but to follow suit.
Of course Joe Soap is fully to blame for his decisions, if he decided to jump on the property train because everyone else was doing it. You cannot excuse bad decisions by saying that everyone else was doing it too.I don't think you can fully blame Joe Soap for doing what everyone with a national voice was advising them to do.
The term “The property ladder “is one of those awful new fangled flashy expressions which came into being about ten years ago. Before that people simply “bought a house ". With "The property ladder" came the idea supported by lending institutions , auctioneers and other vested interests that you buy today , sell one or two years later when your " property" has doubled in value and "trade up” until within a few years you own that big house on the hill having made a fortune in the process.
We have witnessed the folly of this greed driven philosophy and yet all those same vested interests including government are talking up prices and predicting the bottom of the market in an attempt to re start the whole sorry merry go round.
Until we grow up and see a house as a place to live and not a "cash cow, investment or property" then we are simply waiting to repeat the mistakes of the past
The attitude of certain contributors to the thread is despicable. We have a culture of home ownership in this country. People had a choice - Buy a home at a certain point in time or continue to see that home becoming less and less affordable as the years (or even months) passed by. The 'holier than thou' sycophants should be ashamed of themselves. Those who claim they knew what was coming are liars.
Are you serious!?!?! I cannot believe how many people excuse the bad decisions of people by saying it was what everyone was doing! As I said before, if those same people that bought because they saw a house becoming less affordable, had sat back and said, I realistically cannot afford this, they would now be seeing houses becoming ever MORE affordable.The attitude of certain contributors to the thread is despicable. We have a culture of home ownership in this country. People had a choice - Buy a home at a certain point in time or continue to see that home becoming less and less affordable as the years (or even months) passed by. The 'holier than thou' sycophants should be ashamed of themselves. Those who claim they knew what was coming are liars. They didn't. Families are now living in poverty. Parents can't afford to pay the mortgage on a home that's worth half the amount of the outstanding mortgage. The State and society as a whole have a duty to assist. As for the 'holier than thou' merchants, they should be made contribute more for their antisocial outlook on life. "I didn't borrow recklessly". Bulls..t. You just got lucky in that you bought at the right time/inherited money/haven't lost your job etc.
It was perfectly obvious to anyone who had either half a brain or wasn't a vested interest than when average house prices are many multiples of the average salaries and we have building societies with TV ads guilt-tripping parents into funding their children's house, that we're in a property bubble. If you want to follow what you think is the national "culture", then fine.
Are you serious!?!?! I cannot believe how many people excuse the bad decisions of people by saying it was what everyone was doing!
Some excellent examples of what gave it away. Some excellent examples of what gave it away.
It was perfectly obvious to anyone who had either half a brain or wasn't a vested interest than when average house prices are many multiples of the average salaries and we have building societies with TV ads guilt-tripping parents into funding their children's house, that we're in a property bubble. If you want to follow what you think is the national "culture", then fine.
We also have a culture of drinking heavily; does this mean when alcoholics lose their homes, I should bail them out too?
Are you serious!?!?! I cannot believe how many people excuse the bad decisions of people by saying it was what everyone was doing! As I said before, if those same people that bought because they saw a house becoming less affordable, had sat back and said, I realistically cannot afford this, they would now be seeing houses becoming ever MORE affordable.
How is someone who said back in 2005/6 that there was going to be a huge bust in property a liar? They were absolutely correct! I agree that there are probably quite a few people now that claim they saw it coming, but never said anything. However there were plenty that said so publicly.
I didn't anticipate prices dropping this much in 2008, but I still sold my house by undercutting every other house for sale in the estate. There was absolutely nothing lucky about this decision, and for you to say so, insults my intelligence.
Some excellent examples of what gave it away.
I remember when I was 10 years old, my aunt who raised me had a saying for me: would you jump off a cliff just because everyone else was doing it?
It's a pity many adults in Ireland didn't listen to advice meant for 10-year-olds.
The 'holier than thou' sycophants should be ashamed of themselves. Those who claim they knew what was coming are liars. They didn't.
Aren't you all great?
Were you all short on the Irish property market or are you just wise after the fact?
Most problems in relation to mortgages are income related (i.e. they've nothing to do with what's happened to the property market).
Salaries have been decimated and many people have been let go. We as a society have a duty to help these people out.
If you call shorting the property market selling my house, then yes, I was short, as I sold and rented.Aren't you all great? Were you all short on the Irish property market or are you just wise after the fact?
Yes, and the fact that people put every last penny into a property they realistically couldn't afford, without making provisions for lower income , was a very stupid mistake. And I for one do not want to live in a society where the mistakes of some are paid for by everyone else. It's bad enough that the imbeciles in government have done so for the banks.Most problems in relation to mortgages are income related (i.e. they've nothing to do with what's happened to the property market). Salaries have been decimated and many people have been let go. We as a society have a duty to help these people out.
How on earth was it complete luck?!?!?!? By December 2007 the PTSB house price index had been down for 12 straight months. I decided to sell and by March had sold, despite other houses in the estate not selling. There was absolutely NOTHING lucky about this.Chris, selling your property during 2008 was complete luck, and for you to claim otherwise is an insult to our intelligence.
No, there is nothing wrong with home ownership. But only when people can afford it. Which that last 3 years have proven to not be the case for a huge amount of people.A national culture of owning one's own home...what a terrible concept.
Oh yes, I am self satisfied. I made exactly the right decisions, and I am most certainly not going to sit back and not point out where this country went wrong and why so many people are in trouble. People made stupid financial/investment decisions; sometime the truth hurts, but it is the truth nonetheless.The self satisfied tone of some of the posts above is frankly disgusting.
It was perfectly obvious to anyone who had either half a brain or wasn't a vested interest than when average house prices are many multiples of the average salaries and we have building societies with TV ads guilt-tripping parents into funding their children's house, that we're in a property bubble.
This is hugely patronising. If it was that obvious then why do we have the situation we have now with many thousands of people struggling and unable to sell because of negative equity. Do they all have only half a brain? I know a number of professionals in this position, people with university degrees, are these the people with half a brain?
This is hugely patronising. If it was that obvious then why do we have the situation we have now with many thousands of people struggling and unable to sell because of negative equity. Do they all have only half a brain? I know a number of professionals in this position, people with university degrees, are these the people with half a brain?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?