In spring 2008, I commented that it felt as though we were being visited by the old Chinese curse “may you live in interesting times” and, whilst it was then pretty clear in the aftermath of the nationalisation of Northern Rock that ‘some-thing’ was happening, it wasn’t entirely clear as to what … [Read more...]

Legend has it that there is a notorious ancient Chinese curse that says “may you live in interesting times” which, as curses go, sounds like a mild form of punishment but becomes more worrying, the longer one thinks about it. A little like the warning “be careful what you wish for, as your wish may … [Read more...]

Buy the 'right property'. Over the thirty years I have been involved in the market, there has always been a question at the end of each year as to what house prices will do the following spring when the market emerges from its winter hibernation.   This year the winter passed unnoticed and … [Read more...]

When I sat down with clients at the beginning of the year, I was asked what I expected to happen to prices. My intuition was that prices would rise rather than fall. At the time it seemed likely that this rise could be in the order of 10-15%, driven partly by city bonuses and partly as a result of … [Read more...]