November 2010
With mortgage lending continuing to contract throughout October and enquiries from buyers declining, many estate agents seem understandably concerned what the coming months hold for them. The UK economic recovery is likely to slow further during Q4 of 2010 and combining this with the Chancellor’s austerity programme of cuts announced on 20th October starting to take place, property prices as a whole are likely to continue to dip. We expect the Buckinghamshire, East Oxfordshire and South Northants markets to bear up reasonably well with further falls of approx 5% over the next 12 months compared to the north of the UK and Wales where some reports state drops of approx 8%.
However we are still seeing good quality stock selling well with one property recently marketed ’privately’ for circa £1.4 million had three offers and secured a figure just off the asking price. Our advice to clients is to be in a ‘ready’ position to purchase over the coming weeks/ months, stock levels show no real sign of improving and if a motivated seller comes to market, there are certainly good purchases to be made whether through the quality of the house or the price paid for a property.
