Whilst not disagreeing with you Andrew, I just wanted to point out that figures for a suburb don’t necessarily reflect individual prices. i.e. you may find that in one particular year more people with better homes in the suburb move out (increasing area prices) and in another period people from smaller/less expensive houses move out of the suburb. (showing a drop in median price). I admit I don’t know Hackney very well, but the figures for my area (Surrey Downs) are sometimes skewed by disproportionate sales in the new and expensive section vs. the older housing trust section.
Long-term real estate is a safe and sure thing.
As for Bl4cK32's rant, I think you may be surprised at the number of millionaires on these forums (I can think of 2 or 3). Andrews comment was correct, and he qualified himself with "(for short periods at least)" which is perhaps what you meant but didn’t state. Purchasing options and off the plan can generate significant wealth in a very short time frame but the risks are higher.
The basic rule is High returns = high risk in anything financial (but the reverse isn’t necessarily true)
I'm guessing its that time of the month for you, the comments weren’t a major flame, just another persons advice/perspective.