Quite a lot of people are saying the UK housing market is surviving the crisis well, but closer inspection reveals most of these commentators have some interest in it remaining firm. Personally I have never been one of the doom merchants for UK property, and thought it would survive the increases in interest rates and the HIPS nonsense. What it can't survive is the banks running out of money to lend.
We must bear in mind that many banks seem unable to define their exposure to dodgy investment vehicles so it will be a while before we know who is in difficulty. There are reports already of banks tightening up on personal lending.
So the next victim of the fallout is us. I think the market will lose its fluidity, and there may be falls later in the year / early next year as people lose confidence.
We don't know everything yet but to me the housing market looks as if it will be stagnant for three years.
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