16
May
Mystical Merv
It would take a very risk orientated gambler to speculate on what
news might emerge about the economy next. Two weeks ago dear old
'Merv' our Chief of Banking suggested that the financial
institutions were making a drama out of a crisis. In his usual
fashion he has now decided to contradict himself and suggest that
we may have a crisis and not a drama. The unfortunate facts
surrounding his announcements is that to the best of our knowledge
he has contracted himself at least every other month for the past
12 months. Fortunes appear to be fluctuating generally, the 'write
downs' have been less than originally forecast, profits in some
respects are higher than forecast ,inflation appears to be
currently rising, although across Europe inflation has taken a dip.
Bankruptcys are less than projected and Building Socities have this
week started to reduce their rates. Exports have bolstered Japans
economy and Euro growth is better than expected. The Stock Market
nonetheless appears slowly and surely to be following an upward
trend. How does this affect the property market? If you are a first
time buyer life remains quite difficult. If you are moving perhaps
for the second time and in an upward direction it might be a little
less complicated but if you are an experienced and educated buyer
who sees the bigger picture and the longer term then you are likely
to be out buying and selling now. In our view the economy is
fragile rather than vulnerable but don’t believe that the
property market really is and expect a total correction by the
second half of this year. What do we base this on you may ask? It
is simple. Excellent results in April, poor results over the Bank
holiday and significantly improving results every day since the 5th
May. We anticipate a busy weekend with prebooked viewing
appointments at their highest level for a weekend since Saturday
8th and Sunday 9th March and during the same period internet
enquiries have increased by 16 percent.