28 Mar

Stable Conditions

Despite the fact that all home owners long to see a continual rise in the value of their property one of the strongest thoughts and influences over this and any other market is to achieve stability and in spite of the turmoil in the global financial markets even dear old Mr Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England is forecasting a stable housing market for the next year or two. This is in stark contrast to the headline grabbers at the end of 2007 suggesting declines as much as 30%. There will always be winners and losers. Unfortunately in the mass market where high loan to value mortgages are more difficult to get prices of lower value properties are depressed and in some instances in some parts of the country certainly are falling by as much as 7 or 8%. However, from the middle to the upper end of the market where this is a supply of ‘one offs’ we are seeing the extreme with rises of 7 or 8%. The balance of course between the highs and the lows equals no average movement at all. With the seasonal spring time flurry of activity just beginning there is now a reliable supply of good quality country homes and an increase in demand. Our conclusion is that the market will resume normal level of activities in the very very near future.