From an article on George Osborne’s “Help to Buy” scheme...

[randomness]

...this chart, with data from Torsten Slok at Deutsche Bank, comparing house price to income ratios in selected American, Australian, British, Canadian, Irish, and New Zealand cities.


(click to enlarge)
From http://www.bondvigilantes.com/blog/2013/07/10/first-home-owner-grants-a-gift-to-new-home-buyers-or-existing/:

The UK’s Help to Buy scheme will take two forms. The first part will offer buyers that qualify an interest-free loan (up to £120,000) from the Government. The second part will see the Government act as guarantor for a proportion of the borrower’s debt.

Well, that's one way to pump up a housing bubble market!

(achinhibitor, the post will probably interest you.)

Comments

[happyfunpaul.livejournal.com]

Yet another example of why I wish legislators would be much more knowledgeable about economics. ("The Law of Unintended Consequences is the one law always passed by Congress/Parliament!")

(Or maybe they do understand economics and just don't care, because winning votes is more important to them than doing the long-term wise thing. But my bet is on ignorance.)

I wonder where Boston-metro would fall on the graph? Around DC, I'd guess.

[rednikki.livejournal.com]

Huh. LA's not on there. I wonder if it's because our prices are going up so fast that by the time they'd get us on the chart it would already be outdated? (Because they are.)

[fin9901.livejournal.com]

Woo hoo! Cheap housing in Atlanta! No wonder we're adding another million people every decade.