[Bazf]

Sorry had to have a say in this discussion as its my area of work,

However, at the end of the day, it is wage levels which drive house prices and wage levels will not support this over-inflation.

Not really as its not a case of wage levels as they only dictate where a person will live, its jobs and demand that set house prices also the UK is different from the USA because of size and economy,ie you can commute from Doncaster to London by train but cant work in Tampa and live in Melborne, same distance.

Moral: Leave the equity in your house unless you are absolutely desperate and then, only borrow the minimum amount you need.

Most people are not in a position to do that with job transfers and the ever changing life styles, have you noticed how most people have newer cars go out to eat a couple of times a week we have breed a want more society.

Talking to an estate agent friend of mine, he says that the agents encourage price increases, so that they can make more money.
Sounds like hes in the wrong job, I would rather sell 10 houses for say 50,000
then 1 house for 60,000 which is what would happen, he needs to remember that the general public are not stupid and will always go for the best deal.

Property investment is definatly the way to go if you want to make a nice amount of money and is way ahead of the stock market. House prices have increased by over 14% in Florida on an annual basis for the last 4 years and the report I read for the UK was 12% a year for the last 10 years with 25-60% for the last 2 years. If you bought a house for 45,000 5yrs ago you would be selling it for 72,000 today a profit of 27,000 the stock market and bond market was averaging 13% over the same period which would give you about 8,000 in profit.
Dont forget you dont need the whole amount to buy a house so if you look at a 67,000 house and you put down say 5% 3350, pay a mortage for a couple of years by renting it out then sell for a profit, these arn't property tycoons they are your average joe.