-->Hi,

heute im DT (Auszüge):

Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England, yesterday warned anyone planning to buy or sell a home to think twice, as he prepared the British economy for the possibility of a crash in house prices.

Mr King gave his sternest warning yet about the state of the overheated property market last night in a speech to the CBI in Scotland.

"So anyone entering or moving within the housing market should consider carefully the possible future paths of both house prices and interest rates."

The warning marks a change of stance for the Bank, which had previously been reluctant to countenance the possibility that house price inflation would drop below zero. According to most economic authorities, including the International Monetary Fund and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, a price crash is the biggest threat to the British economy.

House prices have risen by more than 20pc in the past 12 months, according to surveys from the Halifax and Nationwide, and have doubled in the past five years.

Yesterday an alternative survey from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister said that the average price of a house in the UK rose by 4.5pc in April to £168,600.

In an effort to cool the market, the Bank of England last week raised interest rates by a quarter percentage point to 4.5pc - its fourth increase since November.

Yesterday, the Halifax became the latest lender to increase increased its mortgage rate, lifting its standard variable rate (SVR) from 6.25pc to 6.5pc from the start of next month.

Despite the increase in the cost of borrowing, many economists are concerned that consumers have not yet reined in their borrowing, reckoning public debt will surpass £1,000billion this month...

Da angesagte Crashs bekanntlich nicht stattfinden, muss sich freilich niemand Sorgen machen.

Gruß!