“A home for everyone” is my target.
This includes the eventual eradication of homelessness. People losing their homes due to negative equity is obviously moving away from this target. The risks of negative equity are currently very high, especially for anyone who bought a home in 2022.
People buying homes now with a large LTV mortgage are the ones most at risk, and therefore need to weigh up the risks very carefully. Few people in the moving industry will ever say much about this to buyers, citing “caveat emptor” or buyer beware as their excuse for selling things to people which might ruin their life.
Sellers who are too slow to react and move out of their home, because of the media and house price index guff about prices being resilient etc, are also at risk of sliding into negative equity without realising until it’s too late.
So some buyers and sellers alike are at a heightened risk of a life-changingly bad situation right now, but no one is warning them properly. This is the reason why I appear to be “trumpeting” bad news in my feed. None of this bad news is welcome. But it is all as myself and @alexgroundwater foretold as long ago as 18 month.
The economy, jobs and wages are the primary drivers of the housing market, followed closely by finance availability and interest rates. All of these things will impact the housing market negatively, including transactions, which is bad for everyone.
Forewarned is forearmed. People still need to move home and I’m here to help that in any way I can. In this economic climate, industry “professionals” puffing up the market because they think they can improve confidence and that will help sales, are making the bad problem worse.
Realism, practicality and preparation are what’s needed. And all I can do is keep highlighting the warning signs, even if it does make me sound like a doom monger. A doom reporter, perhaps, but don’t shoot the messenger.