The following is an excerpt of an article posted on 30 March, 2011 at blog Yawning Bread.
In Part 1, I discussed the overall design of the survey, highlighting the possible caveats we should apply when looking at the results. Here, we look at the results.
The survey asked a set of questions each on three subjects: housing, foreigners and cost of living. On housing, Today newspaper published these numbers:
In its write-up, the newspaper said “Housing not so hot after all”.
I came to the opposite conclusion. To me, the key figure was 52.4 percent. That’s the proportion — a slight majority – who felt that the government’s recent measures to rein in prices are not adequate. While it may be a slight majority, I think it’s very significant, as I will explain below.
The newspaper might have been looking at the first four questions (“Are you concerned about. . . .”) to arrive at its conclusion. To my eyes, those numbers, far from being “not so hot” are very high. Why do I say that? Because at any given time, about half the population would be existing home-owners, most of whom would not be planning a new purchase. To them rising home prices are either of little immediate impact or may even be seen as a good thing, enhancing the value of their main asset. Only the other half of the population are, at any given time, exposed to the problems of escalating home prices, and as you can see from those numbers, just about all of them are “concerned”. Just about all of them are unhappy with the government’s measures so far.
To read on, click here.
