Leading Estate Agents in the South Report Resurgence in the Market - May 2009
“After two years of the harshest property market conditions anyone can remember there has been a sustained increase in market activity since the beginning of the year,” reports leading Country and Waterside Property estate agents, Creasey Biles and King following a recent meeting of Mayfair Office regional members in the South held in Southampton “Over the South of England the picture seems very much the same,” says Managing Director Sam Biles, who with fellow Director Andrew King and East Wight Manager Gregory Lewis represented Creasey Biles and King and the Wright Estate Agency (both Members of Mayfair Office) at the regional summit meeting attended by leading independent firms spread across the South. Mayfair Office is one of the most highly regarded groups of estate agents in the UK.
“Just as the tap turned off over twenty months ago it was partially turned on again in January, and since then there has been an encouraging level of interest in correctly-priced property in most price ranges. Worst to be hit last year have been urban flats and other property dependent upon mortgage funding. Property at the very top of the market only really followed suit after the collapse of Lehman Bros in September last year and even here there has been an increased degree of positive activity since the New Year. We have agreed sales and taken offers on property above £1m that indicate that the percentage drop from the peak of the market for quality property may have been exaggerated in the press. There is no doubt that cash buyers have stimulated the market, perhaps sensing that the decline in prices has reached or will soon reach the bottom of this cycle. Many pundits suggest that it is better to buy on the last bit of the downturn than the first bit of the upturn – there is more choice available.” adds Sam Biles.
With almost many decades of combined estate agency experience between them, those that attended the Southampton meeting included several who had already worked through two previous financial recessions and for one even the 1974 property market crash. The meeting was held to pool ideas and adopt common strategies to ensure that the firms’ clients achieve sales and are able to move on with their lifestyle plans despite challenging market conditions.
Members of the group agreed that the previous business year had been the hardest ever, with difficult and often heartbreaking cuts in staff and office numbers, which were vital to see out the downturn. But over the first quarter of 2009 there has been a new urgency among buyers to purchase before prices move upward again, has come the need to re-engage staff to manage the higher levels of activity.
The group commented, “The next few months leading up to high summer will be crucial. As long as there is no more dreadful news about the economy or government or catastrophic failures by large financial institutions then the property market may have time and room to grow. But it is still a highly volatile commercial area and even issues like a flu pandemic could rattle the market somewhat. The recent budget really did little to assist first time buyers and the government could have done a great deal more to help this sector by encouraging state owned banks to release more mortgage funds. They could also have raised the price level at which Stamp Duty comes into effect. Both these measures would have given the market a much-needed boost. The recent more stringent rules on HIPs are causing delays in launching property onto the market which is unhelpful to say the least. Nevertheless there is an increasing number of great property opportunities, and buyers with cash or mortgage finance are now well placed to take full advantage of a market that should soon reach a trough - if it hasn’t done so already – and to bump along the bottom.
May, 2009
For further details please contact:
Sam Biles: Creasey Biles and King 07973 898 615
