The only way is up - maybe

Talk abounds of the inevitable trajectory of property prices in 2014.

As Yazz once sang, 'the only way is up, baby!"

However, let's just stop a moment and take a deep breath before we get carried away by this euphoric late eighties music track. ( remember that's the trick new Labour pulled on us before and look where that got us)

Maybe we should all take time to re-consider Yazz's bullish lyrics. Should they be hedged with  caution? Let's bring in some reality that might have been discarded along the way.

I mean despite her declaration, Yazz has hardly remained a gleaming star, the only way was clearly not up for her despite her own predictions.

So with property prices, despite the talk of a price boom, in many parts of the country, property is already clearly over-priced, as this article in the Daily Mail underlines the gap between wages and values are unrealistically stretched. The current property market is an inflated bubble fuelled on debt that might simply be unsustainable.

With average property prices rising 5.4 % a year, set against wage increases of just 0.9%, a typical home buyer needs to raise this extra £16,000 from an earnings rise of a meagre £261. This clearly isn't adding up.

"The only way is up, maybe!" sounds a far more realistic lyric to sing along to.

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