Pound down sharply amid concerns for British property

[inanna]

Source: Associated Press

July 5 at 4:20 AM

LONDON — The British pound is down sharply, as are shares in U.K. real estate companies, amid concerns that the exit from the European Union will hurt property prices.

The news comes after financial group Standard Life moved to stop trading in a commercial property fund. The move came after a rapid increase in investors trying to liquidate their holdings.

Standard Life stopped trading to protect other investors who wished to remain in the fund.

The pound was down 0.9 percent to $1.3166 on Tuesday, its lowest so far since the vote and the weakest in 31 years.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/pound-down-sharply-amid-concerns-for-british-property/2016/07/05/4f3198a6-4289-11e6-a76d-3550dba926ac_story.html

[safeinOhio]

2. As usual

The least will pay the most.

[TubbersUK]

5. Exactly n/t

[PSPS]

3. LOL. Yes, it's all because of "racism."

Did you even bother read the article? They stopped trading in what is innocuously described as a "commercial property fund." In other words, the current favored way of laundering money, buying up real estate, isn't going to be as easy as it used to be. So the tax cheats and other parasites are grabbing their ill-gotten loot and trying to run for the exits.

Maybe real estate prices will return to earth where normal people will be able to afford to buy.

[Helen Borg]

6. But commercial property is "office space" and the like...Right?

Why should it affect the general price of housing?

[TubbersUK]

7. The Tories will work to ensure a soft landing for the monied

Brexit: George Osborne pledges to cut corporation tax

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-36699642

It's us 'normal people' that I fear for.

[Igel]

14. Yup.

Claim: 350 million pounds a week for the national health service.

Wow. Such incredibly blatant racism.

It's like having a change-ringing performance in which only one of the performers shows up with his bell to play. You may be expecting the Hallelujah Chorus, but all you get is G# 1661. Nice note, but surely there's more.

[Sanity Claws]

18. That's it

And I keep thinking of the logical consequences. Capital will leave London real estate market and move to the overheated markets of New York, San Francisco, Vancouver, et al. Much of it is invested in residential property in which in no one lives. There are towers that are black at night because no one lives there. People buy only to find safe place to invest their money, money that has been laundered through offshore entities.
The real estate market in these cities is already crazy and it is only going to get worse.

[Nihil]

12. Your ignorance knows no bounds.

Suggestion: Try finding out something about the subject matter *before* posting
offensive broad-brush insults.

[LittleGirl]

4. ugh, this is what we feared the most

we have property in London and did not want to see this.

[pampango]

10. Which version of Brexit will Conservatives choose? An election to approve the plan?

Or just let the Tories pick their prime minister, formulate a Brexit plan then implement it?

Britain must have a general election before activating article 50

The government not only finds itself without leadership, it has no plan, no consensus and no clue about what it wants to do in the future. The only thing it agrees on is that the UK should leave the EU. But how, when and to what end all remain unanswered. It enjoys a mandate to quit, but no mandate as to how this should be done.

This is partly the result of the unforgivable cynicism of a Brexit campaign that refused to tell voters what comes next. But it is also a consequence of contradictory opinions: the hedge fund owners who financed the campaign want to turn the City into a low–regulation Dubai; Boris Johnson wanted to open Britain to far-flung continents; Michael Gove wants to close Britain against incomers; and most Brexiteers witter about maintaining access to the single market while not being subject to its rules, apparently oblivious to the glaring contradiction.

This debilitating cocktail of hubris, incompetence and dishonesty must be overcome if the country is to move forward.

First, each Conservative leadership candidate must set out, in detail, what they think our future relationship with Europe should be. Second, the new prime minister, to be announced on 9 September, should immediately publish a white paper setting out a full plan. And third, he or she must then seek a democratic mandate for their plan in an early general election.

The notion that it should be left to Conservative members to handpick a new prime minister for what in effect will be a new government pursuing new priorities is absurd.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jul/03/britain-general-election-before-article-50

One one hand, Conservatives won the Brexit referendum vote and don't have to call a general election. One could argue that they should be permitted to choose the Brexit plan they prefer and go with it. The "low-regulation Dubai" plan, the Boris Johnson "neoliberal fantasy island" plan, the Michael Gove "build a figurative wall" plan or a 'free trade, no rules' plan?

OTOH, one could argue that which plan is chosen by Conservatives should be voted upon by more than just the Conservative majority in parliament. Interesting times ahead for the UK.

[Surya Gayatri]

16. ^^^This!^^^

This debilitating cocktail of hubris, incompetence and dishonesty must be overcome if the country is to move forward.

[seabeckind]

11. Has less to do with property

and much more to do with the investment in property.

Note the pertinent word: investment.

At some point people will have to discover the fact that there is a disconnect between the actual value of a commodity and the money trading around that property.

Case in point: stock market.

[OnDoutside]

13. Fair point, there has been massive investment in property by foreign money. Many developments in

London are barely advertised in the UK.

[Igel]

17. The next time you hear somebody say how wonderful parliamentary, proportional representation is ...

Remember this.

In a parliamentary system, the executive branch can be brought down by shifts in the legislative. The entire government can fall, and to keep in power games can be played that don't just affect the "house" or "senate" but can cause the entire system to collapse.

The equivalent of an "obstructionist" Senate in Britain is this. Even the obstructionist Senate in the US gets some things done--we just focus on what's not done that we care about.


Next time "compromise" is considered a dirty word, remember that sometimes the alternative to victory or defeat is scorched earth in which everybody loses. However, some dweebs prefer disaster for both sides to losing, so first you have to make sure that you're dealing with reasonable people and not power-crazed psychopaths, even if they do bunk next to you in the same small tent.

[joshcryer]

19. This is exactly what the elites wanted.

Sink property values, cause a firesale and buy up everything again when it bottoms out. The British people were fooled so badly it's a joke. Same thing was planned with CDOs and the Housing Bubble. The analysts at all the major investment groups saw it happening and planned for it.

[OnDoutside]

20. Oh stop please with the conspiracy theories, the Remain was at over 60% at the start of the campaign

and the markets had priced in a Remain win.

[joshcryer]

21. That matters to the wishes of the wealthy?

Do you believe they aren't anticipating buying up cheap property?

[OnDoutside]

29. No ! That's simply the laws of economics. If I had the money I'd be waiting to buy at the bottom of

the market as well. It's not a conspiracy.

[yardwork]

22. The 1% will make a ton of money and the poor will have even less.

In a few years, the economic downturn in Britain will be used as an excuse to cut public services even more. This was an incredibly cynical campaign to trick people into voting for their own destruction.

[joshcryer]

24. The NHS may well be destroyed.

And it'll be a self perpetrating loop as things get worse they'll blame the immigrants, tensions will rise, terrorist, whole nine yards. It's tragic.

[yardwork]

26. Exactly. And more and more reactionary people will get elected.

Scotland and Northern Ireland will leave, too.

It's a disaster.

[geek tragedy]

25. the elites are losing a lot of money due to declines in asset values

there will always be some elites profiting from any development

[joshcryer]

27. The 1% always gains.

But I'm thinking more of the top 0.1%, who will gain by far the most, as they engineer the financial system going forward.

It's a new serfdom.

[geek tragedy]

28. they're in a better position to take advantage of developments, but

in cases like the great subprime shitpile of 2007-2008, a lot of 1%ers lost a lot of money as a result of the financial crash and stock market collapse.

Even the wealthiest have most of their wealth tied up in regular assets than lose value if the economy goes south.

That wealth rebounds, and they do take advantage, because they're in a position to, but it's reactive rather than proactive.

[SunSeeker]

23. The hits just keep on coming. That's what UK gets when it follows racists.nt