http://www.theguardian.com/business/201 ... mccafferty

Keep an eye on the pound. Oh, it's just gone up...

So if workers pay gets anywhere close to 2% expect an interest rate increase. They will ignore bosses getting more than 10% increases.

It is all so dependent on the economy continuing to recover. The US economy is slowing again and I doubt that our economy will be far behind. Austria is facing a banking crisis and that could put them in the same position as Italy or Greece. The problems that we had in 2008 are still there and nothing has been done to resolve them. The Canadian, Australian and Dutch property bubbles are starting to deflate, that will mean banking crises in those countries. The only question is when. There will be upheavals but exactly how it plays out is anybodies guess.

Just as long as mortgage rates don't go up before October [/selfish]

French markets are deflating too, prices in central Paris have started going down, might have to do with rent regulations being dangled by the councils though

Central Paris is quite different to the rest of France. Apparently there is an area that is so devoid of French families that the schools in the area are at risk of closing because so many foreigners have bought 2nd homes in that it is like a ghost town even in impacting local traders. French banks had reasonable lending practices within France but went crazy in Southern Europe.

So do I for your sake, but the question will be will you be able to get decent rates then or will they start pricing in any expectation of rate rises?

Even if they put them up a bit, they'll be less than the five year fixed I'm on now.

In which case you should be fine. I doubt that they will go up much as the economy is still very weak.

The lower they stay, the more I can reduce the term of the mortgage while paying the same each month.

I mentioned Paris because that's the part of France where prices went crazy like in the South East here.
There's very large parts of France which are desertified apart from a few holiday homes and farms. That's because there's a lot fewer people working in farming and young people with kids who need jobs move to largish towns or cities. I think it's a good thing that foreigners buy the delapidated farms to renovate, otherwise they would just crumble away as noone with a job could commute from there.

That sounds similar to Cormwall. Though it is causing problems in some communities as there are not enough locals to support the local stores. Having lots of outsiders buying dilapidated homes is one thing as long as it does not reduce opportunities for the youngsters who want to stay in the area,