Cyprus-Forum.com

[Johnson&Johnson]

Excellent points Kikapu.

Agree wholeheartedly... Not much I can add there except that I think the property bubbles in western economies were inflated to hide the fact that we are getting poorer as the wealth shifts to asia and the east. And deservedly so. They are more hardworking, frugal and clever than us, so why shouldn't they win the lion's share of global wealth.

Point in case - Toyota overtaking GM as the world's biggest auto manufacturer, India overtaking the midwestern US states as the biggest steelmaker, Korea, China etc laying waste to England's shipyards as they become the biggest shipbuilders, etc etc

We don't actually make anything of value anymore, we just buy and sell stuff to each other and it is all funded by debt.

And we indulge in fantasies about the value of our properties - look at Cyprus ! pure fantasy island stuff, overpriced and shoddily built and in many cases you don't even have a deed of ownership !

Well, if you don't deal with reality, reality will deal with you.

I think the living standards of our children will be very much lower than those we or our parents enjoyed, and it is good to think about this and plan for it.

- Have you checked the website globaledgeinvestors.com ? Some really really good debate on there.

[Free Spirit]

Our friend who was widowed last year and lives in a 15 year old bungalow in the more select area of Tala had her bungalow valued last year at £230,000 CYP, it was valued twice in July this year at £165,000 CYP and £185,000 CYP, that is more than a 25% drop.

[Avanapa]

who valued it though? estate agent desperate for quick sale no doubt. Desperate for his commission.
Buysell have released figures that say house prices have risen 12% from June last year. Slight drop in last Quarter of 0.4%. Whose kidding who?

[Johnson&Johnson]

those buysell figures are obviously cooked - i mean, where else on the planet would an ESTATE AGENT be considered the authority on house prices ???

its so ridiculous it beggars belief !

[roseandchan]

in the uk at least you can always check with the land registry for prices. we paid off our mortgage and i think that is the best future we can give our kids. leaving tham property which they own outright. also along with some sound advise to stay away from credit cards and don't have what you can't afford. the trouble has been that the banks ask for your earnings figures then offer to lend upto another figure which is the max they will lend. people just borrow to that max. then when rates change or agreements are renewed they can't pay the mortgage. i have been checking out a few sites online regarding how to deal with the repo agents. infact it sounds like most repo's are because of relationship breakdown. this suprised me.

[Avanapa]

those buysell figures are obviously cooked - i mean, where else on the planet would an ESTATE AGENT be considered the authority on house prices ???

its so ridiculous it beggars belief !

I have to agree with you there. I think though that even here in the UK the system is just as flawed. The only true valuation at any given time is whatever someone is prepared to pay to have your house.

[Mr. T]

The house price crash should have come as no surprise to anybody in the UK. It was blatantly obviously that a crash was going to come and the longer that prices were rising the nearer we were having the crash.

I started to sell some of my properties in October 2006, biting the bullet and paying Capital Gains Tax, minimised as much as possible. In retrospect this was a little early but I don't regret selling any last year.

An article I read by ABN Amro, the Dutch bank forecasting the fall was brilliant and well worth a read even now:-http://www.housepricecrash.co.uk/pdf/abn-amro-home-truths-04042007.pdf

Much too soon to get back in the market for quite a while yet.

Anybody spotted the mega crash in Florida?

[Free Spirit]

The people who should really be concerned are those in Cyprus whose title deeds have been used to fund the massive excess in building property that nobody is buying.
What happens when those developers go bust because they can't sell this overpriced excess of property.
The developer of the group of properties where we rented told the solicitor that the final house was completed. The place is nowhere complete far from it in fact. This developer has displayed financial problems throughout the whole project, one buyer was handed the keys with no windows having been fitted.
At least in the UK your builder shouldn't be the cause of you losing out and according to a recent documentry the solicitor would be struck for not obtaining title deeds as they should be in Cyprus.

[Free Spirit]

who valued it though? estate agent desperate for quick sale no doubt. Desperate for his commission.
Buysell have released figures that say house prices have risen 12% from June last year. Slight drop in last Quarter of 0.4%. Whose kidding who?

BuySell actualy came up with the £165,000 valuation, the £185,000 I'm not sure but they did say she would have to come down some.

[Feisty]

I have a friend who was a proerty developer on the Costa Del Sol. He very nearly went bankrupt but with hard work has got it back and is now in Dubai.