The "Buy Now" Culture Is Back, But Are They Right?

"House Prices To Soar Again" was the headline in today's Daily Express. Could there be any scarier news for first time buyers already struggling to afford their first home? It is reported that the Centre for Economics and Business Research predicts price rises not only for 2007 but for the next three years. If the property boom does continue off into the distant future what will become of those pinning their hopes on a crash as their only way of affording the first rung on the ladder?

Economists are saying that because of high employment, a strong economy and confidence in the property market prices will just carry on increasing for the foreseeable future.

Over the last year the Bank of England base rate (the rate that lenders follow for their mortgage interest rates) has increased three times to attempt to slow the pace of the market. Even making every penny borrowed more expensive to repay has done little to slow things down. In fact one property statistics website is even saying that prices have risen faster than at any point since 2003 when the last property boom was in full swing.

The first thing to say about all this is, "don't panic". The "experts" have been predicting the burst of the "property bubble" for years and that didn't happen, so there is no reason to believe that they will be any more accurate at predicting long periods of rising prices and market stability either. However, because enough of the "experts" are now predicting steady growth we can be fairly confident that a crash is not on the horizon anytime very soon.

What this means is that now might well be a good time to get on the ladder if you can. If the market does go up then you'll be sitting on an asset that's rising in value every day (£1,000 a month is the prediction for this year reported in the Daily Express), and if it stays steady then you are saving yourself money you would otherwise be wasting on rent each month.

If you cannot afford to take the first step onto the property ladder on your own then why not consider co-buying? Combine your budgets, divide all your costs and own your own home far sooner than you could do alone. Check out www.sharedspaces.co.uk for this and other options to save money when buying your first home, because if the experts are right this time you may well kick yourself later if you don't.