October 2009

I am absolutely not an estate agent, but if I were I would be doing my utmost to persuade any prospective vendors that now is the  time to sell. With such a shortage of stock, any good property is being  snapped up.

 Contrary to public opinion, there is not neccessarily a buyers market in this area as plenty of frustrated cash buyers are sitting in rented accomodation eager to make a purchase. Continuing low interest rates mean that this group are having to use capital as the interest from sales proceeds no longer covers their costs.

Many properties are achieving their guide prices and in some cases exceeding them. Particularly thin on the ground are good, solid family homes in the £1m-£2m price bracket. Where many purchasers in this price range tend to be quite fussy, even they are making compromises as they see there is unlikely to be any change in this situation for some while.

Having said that, HSBC has just announced that they are promising to lend an extra £500m to homebuyers applying for 90% cash mortgages. They have renewed confidence in the market and feel that prices will not drop much further. Other lenders are expected to respond positively.

In the long term this may help kick start the market but with a general election due next year it may be a while before we see much in the way of an upturn in prices.