Pulses and Blips
We are now likely to see the market operating in a series of pulses and blips for the foreseeable future.
The activity that has been so widely reported by agents and commentators over the last few weeks has been enabled by a handful of ready and willing buyers and sellers.
Some vendors have appreciated that if they want to sell their property they should listen to their agent and reduce price to a level that will be realistic, attractive and affordable to prospective buyers.
And some buyers have decided to get into the market for a number of reasons:
a) they have been forced out of the market over the last few years by ‘bubbly’ prices
b) they have not wanted to get into the market over the last few years because they, correctly, feared a crash
c) they have been able to raise finances, taking advantage of historically low interest rates
d) they are cash buyers
But those realistic vendors and buyers have now met their matches, and the market will falter until more vendors decide to offer their properties for sale – there is still real shortage – and more buyers pluck up the courage and organise their financing to make the most of opportunities available.
The market will be characterised by bursts of activity, followed by nothing happening – and that could go on all year.
