Does the excess of empty properties occur in areas with sky high prices though?
You mean like the empty flats being bought by foreign investors in London?
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/lond...e-investors-who-keep-flats-empty-8702570.html
While ownership culture, buy to let, bank lending policies and RTB are all factors of high house prices most commentators and institutions say supply is the main one
Most of them are idiots, who ignore the other side of supply and demand.
Supply and demand works both ways, the supply and availability of housing, and the supply and availability of money.
Money is still in supply far in excess of housing, foreign investors, buy to rent both, particularly by baby boomer who can pay cash, and easy access to excessive credit (we are still feeling the effects of self certification mortgages even if their supply is now restricted).
The price of goods is determined by what the market will bear.
There are a lot of people with excess money who set the high market price, people forget this because they focus on all the joe blog's who struggle to raise a deposit for a crappy 1 bedroom flat, the same flats which landlords and investors can cash purchase.
You can also look at the Irish housing boom as an example of this. Before the recession they were building something like 1000% more housing than us (measured per person).
Yet they still saw soaring prices.
I'm sure you researched the figures before stating an opinion
Yes, I did base my opinion on facts and research, here is one link you could have found if you bothered (yet again) to do your own research
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-28349374
I would suggest you stop bothering to debate me, you just come off looking like a numpty.