The Credit Crunch: More than 75,000 homes in the UK could be repossessed...

@Jemina (5770)
June 20, 2008 12:34pm CST
by the end of 2008. That's according to a magazine article I read recently. I feel bad for those people whose homes have been repossessed. Also with the credit crunch and the current crisis, the prices of homes have depreciated by about 9%. Just when will things get better?
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7 responses
@tigerdragon (4297)
• Philippines
23 Jun 08
this is just my personal take on the issue. if we refrain from spending so much on things that we really do not need then things will start looking up. if we spend wisely then we don't have to borrow money or use up our resources to purchase some of our caprices .thus, saving enough for the necessities and at the same time, economically, prices of commodities won't go up that much since there are people spending less and this companies will have to sell lower to attract customers.i agree, not only in the U.K but all over the world that it will affect a lot of us in the near future.we just have to learn to be wise with our spending habits. it is time to go back to basics of saving and spending.
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@livewyre (2450)
23 Jun 08
Short-term, things will get worse when people decide not to spend...but you are right that we need to get our personal spending under control. This WILL result in loss of business for some companies and inevitably job losses, so there will be an impact and it won't be pleasant for some. There is the micro-economic view that says 'don't spend', but the government know that the macro-economic impact of that attitude will do a lot of damage to the economy over the next couple of years possibly...
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@livewyre (2450)
24 Jun 08
Every day I am becoming more convinced that what we are seeing now could be just the tip of the iceberg - that's the trouble with the free-market, if you try to prop it up (and governments have been propping for a little while), you are just staving off the inevitable 'crunch' and making it worse. I have been budgeting tightly for about two years in order to drive my debt down, and I would urge everyone to plan to do the same for the next couple of years.
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@Jemina (5770)
23 Jun 08
Oh my Buddha. It sounds like we don't have a choice really. But yes, spending wisely is the best thing we can do right now.
@scribe (26)
26 Jun 08
That's too bad. People have been paying their houses for like a couple of years and now that money will just go wasted. At least they could consider they were just renting that house. But it's really bad. Not having a roof over your head for shelter is really a sorry state. I can feel this credit crunch biting hard on people. It seems like the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.
@Jemina (5770)
3 Jul 08
It's really hurting everyone. I feel really bad for those people who have lost their houses and the money they spent paying the mortgage already.
@livewyre (2450)
21 Jun 08
Things could get a lot worse before they get better, in a market economy it is very difficult to predict because 'confidence' is a big factor and it is very difficult to inspire confidence in the market. It also requires spending to inflate the economy, and who is going to spend when they are struggling to meet mortgage payments or pay their food bill when wages are not rising? Ultimately we could see some more financial institutions go to the wall, and although I don't want to spread doom and gloom, when these guys go belly-up ANYTHING could happen, the free market is based on rise and fall, when the rises and falls are 'controlled' by government intervention, the 'oversteer' can sometimes plunge you into big spending times and then deep recession. The worse affected will be those that bought recently with 100% mortgages in a falling market AND then struggle to meet repayments - if you have sufficient income, then negative equity is not an issue. The good news is that if you are careful you will come through unscathed, my advice is to budget and try to control your spending, reduce debt and become financially 'lean' - see: http://www.thecreditcruncher.com for more information and advice...
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@Jemina (5770)
23 Jun 08
Your blog contains very important and useful tips that applicable anytime. You are most right. People spend their future income to feed their fantansies and, wants, and ambitions. And the result could be a lifetime of paying debt.
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@MsTickle (25180)
• Australia
25 Jun 08
I wish people will stop being so gullible and not borrow more than they can afford to repay. The sums are really simple. You earn so much, you need so much to live on, your loan repayments cost this much...oops, no, that doesn't work, that's too much, we will have to borrow less. I look at what people are saying here and the news Jemina and things are pretty bad. The price of fuel is on the rise, ditto groceries, everthing is costing more...home repairs and maitenance is so costly, you have to ask yourself if you can afford to fix things. I'm enemployed too so I'm in deep trouble.
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@Jemina (5770)
25 Jun 08
We're on the same boat this time. I'm unemployed too and I am not happy about it. What you said is right about people borrowing more than what they can pay. This is where so many people fall. They want an instant comfort and they plunge into the pool of borrowing. Then they spend the whole year repaying what they borrowed that only cost a month's salary or two. It's too bad.
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@cassidy22 (2974)
• United States
5 Jul 08
First of all, things aren't going to get better for a long time,so start getting smart iwith your money and your investments. Secondly, I DO feel bad for the "credit crisis" and the folks having their homes foreclosed in the US. Some of them were legitimately duped, and lied to by loan sharks. Others, however, didn't do their homework. Now Pres Bush is trying to put together some sort of plan to help out the folks who can't pay their mortgage payments? Folks who signed on loans they couldn't handle are now going to get a hand out? what about folks like me? I have NEVER once been late on a bill payment, in my LIFE. I was smart about getting a mortgage I could handle, one that did NOT have inflating rates over time. I pay my mortgage, I play by the rules.. and others are getting paid? Granted, I know some were taken advantage of (and should have the right to sue) but what about the people that are just plain stupid with money, ones who spend beyond their means? Why are they getting rewarded for their behavior with a hand out from the government?
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4 Jul 08
This has potential to be quite some recession/ depression. We have had boom times/ good times for a relatively long period now, which could mean quite a dip, coming now. A lot will depend on mass psychology. Looking at it in a positive light, it will be good for the environment, in that we won't be needing to exploit the earth for quite so much energy or for raw materials...
@maximax8 (31053)
• United Kingdom
3 Jul 08
The UK is having a challenging time at the moment with higher prices and people having difficulty affording these. The price of homes is decreasing so that is rather bad news. The cost of food and of fuel has gone up quite considerably. Mortgage rates have gone up since they were quite low two to three years ago. If a couple or a single person pays most of their salary on their mortgage then it is difficult them to keep up the reypayments on their home. If the mortgage goes even higher unless they earn more money their house might be repossessed. It is terrib;ly sad when a person, a couple or a family has their house repossessed. Most people are budgeting carefully and only going ahead with essential purchases. I have just been on a trip to Latvia, Lithunaia and Estonia. It makes me realise nowhere in Europe is cheap anymore. Travel is Hungary in 1990 was a bargain and house prices in England were very low when I boyught my cotttage in 1991. The 1980s were a time of negative equity for some people. Then the early 1990s was the recession and many people were made redundant. So let us hope that brighter times are ahead of us in 2009 and 2010. We can only be sure of the past but we have hopes for a better future.
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