From: "Robin Peters" 
Newsgroups: uk.finance
Subject: Re: What to do with 15 000 pounds
Date: Sat, 30 Apr 2005 15:16:38 GMT

>
> Prices fluctuate, but they always end up in an increase. I dug out a
> local paper from 15 years ago. Every property since then has increased
> its market value by several orders of magnitude. My father paid around
> £5,000 for a 3 acre smallholding in 1957. What do you think it could
> be worth today?
>
> MM

MM,

Quite, the FTSE-100 also increases over time, as does cash in a building 
society account. I believe the rather techincal term for this is 
"inflation".

The fact of the matter though is that both guilts and shares have increased 
more in value over the last 20 years than property has. Check out this 
graph.

http://www.nationwide.co.uk/hpi/historical/MPR0502.pdf

Over a long period of time property will provide a return, but it certainly 
won't out perform equities, and buying at the top of the cycle is finanical 
suicide....of course the top of the cycle would appear to have been last 
July, we've been going down ever since.

this book would probably be a good read....

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1853263494/qid=1114874227/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl/026-3734744-6217257

I don't know why I'm wasting my time here though, it's practically 
impossible to talk someone out of a religion/fashion with mere logic.