House Prices: Why are they so high?

http://www.positivemoney.org.uk/house-prices

Why are house prices so high? Why is it so expensive for us to own a home? Why was there a housing bubble? Why was there a housing crisis?

In the ten years up to the start of the financial crisis, house prices rose by over 200%. (*1)

Why?

A common belief is that there are too many people, too much immigration, and too few houses to go around.

But this is a myth.

In fact, during this time for every 4 new people, we built 3 new homes. (*2)

But at the same time, mortgage lending grew by over 370%!

So, where did we find all this money to buy houses?

When you take out a mortgage, the money doesn't actually come from somebody else's savings.

No. It's actually just created, electronically, by your bank typing numbers into a computer.

And it's those newly-created numbers, or newly-created money, that you can use to pay for your new house.

Since every mortgage works this way, all the crazy lending before the crisis created hundreds of billions of brand new money.

And this new money flooded into property...

Pushing houses prices up so high.
Everyone pays more for a place to live, which means that, after paying the mortgage or the rent, there's less money to pay the bills,

And less money to spend with businesses and shops in your town.

So high house prices don't make us richer - they make us poorer.

Well actually, not all of us -- high prices and big mortgages mean bigger profits for the banks. And with an effective license to print money, this guarantees they'll lend too much.

So if we want to keep houses affordable for ordinary people, we have to look to the banks, and together take away their power to create money, for good.

Spreading the word is crucial, so please send this to anyone you know who's been priced out of a home - friends, kids, students etc. 
You can also send this link: 
http://www.positivemoney.org.uk/house-prices

Music and animation by Henry Edmonds
Narrated by Conor Irwin (www.conor-irwin.com)

*1: Source: Nationwide House Price Index -- Q3 1997 to Q3 2007.

*2: Source: Figures on number of houses from: Department for Communities and Local Government, Welsh Assembly Government, Scottish Government, Department for Social Development (NI); Figures for population: Office of National Statistics)

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Positive Money is a not-for-profit research and campaign group. They work to raise awareness of the connections between our current monetary and banking system and the serious social, economic and ecological problems that face the UK and the world today. In particular they focus on the role of banks in creating the nation's money supply through the accounting process they use when they make loans - an aspect of banking which is poorly understood. Positive Money believe these fundamental flaws are at the root of - or a major contributor to - problems of poverty, excessive debt, growing inequality and environmental degradation. For more information, please visit: http://www.positivemoney.org.uk/

Perché i prezzi delle case sono così alti?

Nei dieci anni che hanno preceduto questa crisi,
i prezzi delle case sono più che triplicati. Perché?

Comunemente si crede che sia troppa gente,
troppa immigrazione,

e troppo poche case a disposizione.

Questo è un mito.

In realtà, in questo decennio,
per ogni 4 nuove persone abbiamo costruito 3 nuove case.

Ma al tempo stesso i mutui ipotecari
sono cresciuti più del 370%.

E dove abbiamo trovato tutti quei soldi
per comprar casa?

Quando tu fai un mutuo, i soldi che ricevi
non provengono dai risparmi di qualcun altro.

NO. Quei soldi vengono creati dal nulla, elettronicamente,
dalla tua banca che digita numeri in un computer.

E sono quei numeri ceati dal nulla,
denaro creato dal nulla,

che tu puoi usare per pagare
la tua nuova casa.

Poiché ogni mutuo funziona così,
tutti i prestiti pazzeschi fatti prima della crisi

hanno creato centinaia di miliardi di denaro virtuale,
e questo denaro nuovo si è riversato sui beni immobili...

...spingendo così in alto i prezzi delle case.

Ciascuno di noi paga di più per il posto in cui vive,
e ciò significa che,

dopo aver pagato la rata del mutuo o l'affitto,
ci restano meno soldi per le altre spese,

meno soldi da spendere nei servizi
e nei negozi della nostra città.

Perciò, i prezzi alti delle case non ci fanno più ricchi,
- ci fanno tutti più poveri !

A dire il vero, non proprio tutti noi --

Prezzi alti e mutui alti significano
maggiori profitti per le banche.

Le banche, di fatto, hanno una licenza di creare moneta
e questo fa sì che ne prestino troppa.

Perciò, se vogliamo tenere i prezzi delle case
accessibili per la gente comune, dobbiamo concentrarci sulle banche,

e tutti assieme togliere loro il potere
di creare il denaro, una volta per tutte.