March 2010

Monday, 01 March 2010

The big issue is a shortage of stock 

 

Ask any estate agent from Lands End to John O’groats how the market is and he’ll probably tell you that he doesn’t have enough property to sell. At Hadley we have taken on several new instructions during the last two weeks so things are certainly warming up, but why is it that sellers are reluctant to put their houses on the market for sale?

 

One lady called into my office the other day and told me she was reluctant to put her house up for sale because she literally couldn’t afford the cost of the home information pack. This is an indicator as to how severe the recession has been for some working people. I was able to tell the lady that we could make arrangements for her to pay for her HIP upon completion and I’m sure most agents can do the same. Our HIP cost £299 plus vat and although this is cheaper than most agents’ pack I can see how this additional cost imposed by the government has kept some sellers out of the market.

 

There are many potential sellers who also want to buy but they find themselves unable to borrow what they need to move up the ladder to a bigger property. This may be because their circumstances have worsened during the recession or because their lender isn’t prepared to lend at the same terms as they would have done before the financial crisis. Either way many people who want to move up simply can’t just yet.

 

Some sellers are not putting their houses up for sale because they can’t find a house to move to and so we have a chicken and egg situation developing. My advice to sellers is always to get a buyer first because if your dream home comes on the market someone who can proceed will buy it while you’re still filling in your home information pack questionnaire.

 

Some sellers believe that if they delay selling for another few months they will get a better price. Now although I don’t believe prices will fall again, I don’t think they are going to go up in a hurry either due to the length of time it will take for the economy to return to sustainable growth and full employment. In short, your home may be worth a little more in 12 months time but not a lot more. The media might like to talk up price increases but remember they using national figures and these are hugely distorted by the price rises we’ve seen in London and the south east where all the bankers and footballers live.

 

The worst winter for 30 years hasn’t exactly put people in the mood for buying or selling either. Whatever happened to that Mediterranean climate we were told to expect by the climate change lobby?

 

So don’t be shy, spring is at last in the air and the market is hungry for properly priced properties of all types in good residential areas. If your house is the only one in your street with a for sale board in the garden you might do rather well.