Rise in house prices is the best possible news

TIME was – it seems so long ago – when two or three homeowners were gathered together the conversation would turn to house prices.

It was usually a matter of self-­congratulation as property values magically surged ahead. It didn’t matter why it happened, it just did.

Householders are wiser and soberer now, more cautious, less boastful. But maybe this rainy summer of ours is indeed producing green shoots.

House prices, we report today, rose for the third month in a row in July. Now though we need to ask why this is happening.

When the recession hit the building industry froze in its tracks. People who were thinking of moving didn’t.

The result of these months of paralysis is an acute shortage of available homes. This means that those that are on the market go up in value.

Prices are 6.2 per cent lower than they were last year, whereas in June they were 9.3 per cent lower year on year.

Mortgages are available again. Rising prices mean that the threat of negative equity is reduced.

Anything that lifts the gloom in the housing market will encourage consumer confidence. it is a virtuous circle, a harbinger of hope.

Casualty figures appall us

July has been a hellish month for our troops in Afghanistan. British forces have suffered the highest casualty rates since the war began, including the deaths of 22 soldiers.

General Sir Richard Dannatt insists that the campaign is succeeding and it does seem that Operation Panther’s Claw has hit the Taliban where it hurts.

But the British public is becoming increasingly uncertain about the course of this war.

How many of the casualties are the result of our servicemen and women being ill-­equipped for their task?

The Ministry of Defence has not covered itself in glory, especially as it is seen trying to claw back some of the compensation it has already awarded to wounded personnel.

The fear remains that some deaths were avoidable, that our troops do not get the support they deserve and that Britain is drifting into a commitment to a military campaign with no end and with increasingly uncertain aims.

An age-old inequality

Fifty year olds are now healthier than people half their age. They don’t eat so much junk food and they do more exercise.

All very well. But remember, the point about being young is that you can punish your body in all sorts of ways and still wake up with dewy skin and sparkling eyes.

It’s just not fair but then life isn’t.