Market Comment

Early 2012

The New Year has seen a few new properties come to the market, together with a round of price reductions on properties that failed to sell last year.

The country house market looks set for a more traditional opening – By this we mean around Easter, when leaves are on the trees and spring flowers dominate the flora and fauna. Sellers want their properties to show at there best as they know buyers are more discerning. This is backed up by agents reporting a reasonable level of stock waiting for an end of March, early April launch.

At Stacks, we have access to this stock as sellers and agents trust our judgment to see a property for what it truly represents. This gives us and YOU a great opportunity to have a look at some quality properties before they come to the open market.

Towards the end of last year the balance between supply and demand had swung in favour of the buyer, however now that a lot of the “best of type properties” that were correctly priced have sold, there is a shortage of these. So whilst there is now greater general choice and some softening of vendors’ expectations, “best of type” is still hard to find at sensible prices.

Reflecting on last year: We saw the start of the year bringing a degree of optimism to the property market, with agents reporting a significant increase in new applicants registering, an increase in viewings and in contact from potential vendors. However, as we progressed through the early part of the year, this activity seemed to slacken somewhat.

As expected in a fairly static market there was the usual continuing round of price reductions and/or the changing of selling agents on properties that had been available for some time, but new quality properties coming to the market remained fairly thin on the ground.

The ongoing credit restrictions, European debt issues, poor economic indicators, the Cuts, increasing living costs and inflation are all undoubtedly having a negative effect on the property market in general – and we have entered 2012 with continuing negative news.
However the number of good quality properties coming to the market in all price bands remains at a low level, coming as it does from a relatively small finite supply and, as always, there are good buyers around for these. This can lead to the rather unexpected situation of quick sales and competitive demand (leading to some best bid situations) in this sector, whilst the bulk market and more secondary properties will have to reflect the current market trends and reduce prices to very competitive levels if they are to effect sales.

It is however important to remember that to secure a good quality property that is new to the market and priced realistically will require quick reactions – if you delay your viewing you are likely to miss out.

There are still a significant number of vendors who, perhaps sensing the slower market conditions, are not prepared to openly market their properties at present, although they do wish to sell at some point. The suspension of HIPS’s has allowed agents to go back to the time-honoured practice of ‘marketing quietly’ e.g. seeing what interest there may be in a property, without going to the expense of marketing and brochures. These properties are available to purchase – if you can find out about them, but beware – often their asking prices can be optimistic!

In what can seem a rather confusing and unpredictable market, the need for professional assistance is more important than ever:

To be able access the whole market – properties openly marketed together with those covertly available.

To establish whether the price guide is realistic or over optimistic.

To negotiate the best deal on behalf of the purchasing client – taking into account all the circumstances, including the expectations of the purchaser and the situation of the vendor.

The engagement of a professional buying agent is probably as important and valuable now as it has been for some years.