8
Jan
Steady As She Goes
Nick Churton assesses the property market as we enter the
busiest time in the house selling calendar.
Anyone with sailing experience will know those
joyful days when a warm brisk wind blows true and steady. But
they will also know those days when the wind is cold, flukey and
difficult, when it blows strongly from different directions with
unpredictable gusts. Then it is not so joyful and can be
downright uncomfortable.
Well, the property market is a bit like
that. For over five years we have had great conditions.
But now the weather has altered. It’s stormy and
changeable.
The irony is that while property sales are
clearly down across the country as a whole, interest and viewing
activity remains relatively high. ’Tis an ill wind that
blows nobody any good, and in the case of this market it is buyers
who are benefiting from the economic climate. Conditions for
purchasers haven’t been so good for years – apart from
those looking for high-loan-to-value mortgages. High
employment, low interest rates (which will probably fall further),
rising salaries and increased property stocks all add up to a time
of great opportunity for those who also have the time fully to
investigate the market and time to wait for the right property to
come along. Most people can’t remember the last time
things were so good for buyers.
But big questions remain. Will the
country slip into recession? Nobody knows. How will the
property market react? No-one can say. Can we look at
the recent past to help us understand how the market will behave in
the future? Sadly not. Should we believe all that we
read in the national press? Definitely not.
Well, what do we know? We know that the
market is cyclical. We know, in the short term, what goes up will
come down. We know in the long term there is a relentless upward
trend - what goes up will continue to do so, despite the odd
hiccup. We know that there are good buyers out
there. We know that property priced in line with
buyers’ reasonable expectations will sell. We know that
super-prime property in super-prime areas will remain a buoyant
sector, albeit with sub-prime urgency. We know that the
serious seller will sell and the serious buyer will buy. Does
all that make for a bad market? Not at all!
We know too that a good helmsman will
skilfully harness the wind no matter what the conditions, just as a
good, experienced estate agent will understand what has to be done
in a testing market. Should one go sailing in stormy weather
with anyone other than a very experienced sailor? Certainly
not. Nor should property affairs be placed in the hands of
any other than a very skilled estate agent. The days of
hiring an inexperienced or cut-price agent and getting away with it
are over, regardless of the name above the door. These agents
should be ignored for those with a wealth of experience and the
maturity to advise, with a clear view of the big picture and
outstanding local knowledge in a challenging market climate!
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