The dull reality of house prices

Those longing for a crash or a bonanza will be disappointed, says Max King. Expect house prices to just creep up.

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A Corbyn government would be likely to back more taxes on property
(Image credit: 2016 Getty Images)

While the absence of a crash in house prices continues to disappoint the Jeremiahs, the much more likely prospect that prices will rise at no more than a snail-like pace in the long term has received little attention. The universal assumption even for the pessimists who hope to buy into a crash is that bricks and mortar are a good long-term investment. This explains the anxiety about the young not being able to get on the property ladder.

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Max King
Investment Writer

Max has an Economics degree from the University of Cambridge and is a chartered accountant. He worked at Investec Asset Management for 12 years, managing multi-asset funds investing in internally and externally managed funds, including investment trusts. This included a fund of investment trusts which grew to £120m+. Max has managed ten investment trusts (winning many awards) and sat on the boards of three trusts – two directorships are still active.

After 39 years in financial services, including 30 as a professional fund manager, Max took semi-retirement in 2017. Max has been a MoneyWeek columnist since 2016 writing about investment funds and more generally on markets online, plus occasional opinion pieces. He also writes for the Investment Trust Handbook each year and has contributed to The Daily Telegraph and other publications. See here for details of current investments held by Max.