"It's going to be ok. I'm going to be ok." (Before the election policy bribes)

"If they go under 4%, that's ok."

A friend commented.

The same friend who had become extremely anxious about the rising interest rates (they have a sub 1% home mortgage and sub 3% Buy To Let rate) for the past number of months.

They seemed positive, instantly upbeat after being a bit of a energy-sapper on this topic for awhile.

Note this is a professional with moderate Loan To Values in both, ￡200k+ household income, ability to make big changes in both personal income and costs relatively quickly.

Their worry over ￡500 here or there is literally misplaced, their salary increases over past year or two will cover it with spare change.

It struck me as central to the belief that sentiment is so important in the idea that economics is all about human behaviour.

This person was worried about this, fixated on this one thing.

Endless analysis of ratios, swap rates and central bank policy aren't what drive things for most people in their outlook, their decisions and the economy is about real people.

And how real people feel and what real people DO.

Back to the commenter, this is a busy person...do you know any of those?

A busy person who feels uncomfortable until they don't because they don't have the interest or the time to wade through endless waffle that is out of date next week or the same as last week.

Most people just see the price of something or their bank balance or a sub 4% headline and they take a view.

While many rant about the government or the banks or the BOE or how it is different or the same as 2008 or whatever, most of us don't really know and those that profess to know are generally either stating the obvious or saying something that might be right at some point.

The other main thing with how we think is we listen to others and what they are saying.

Stating the obvious, be aware of who and what their impact is on you this year.

Recently, I am hearing many people saying a version of "It's going to be ok. I'm going to be ok."

And they start to act accordingly, looking at investments for income or opportunities for growth, spending a little bit more.

And things start to move, the money to feed the hungry beast flows through the country...and there are some meaningful house building initiatives, funding for health, education and more.

And this is what I see now in the depths of a dark January in London Town: A SUNNY 2024

#economicoutlook2024 #propertyuk #humanbehaviour #interestrates #londonpropertymarket