The month of April has been a fairly static month for the housing market, the conflict in Iran has definitely dominated the world news and hampered the UK housing market after an optimistic start to the year.
Although some of the mortgage lenders increased their rates last month in a knee jerk reaction, some have reduced them this month but unfortunately this has dented buyer confidence.
The Governor of the Bank of England made a positive statement by assuring us the monetary committee have no immediate plans to increase the base rate. However, world events are now having a big impact on confidence, particularly with first-time buyers. The majority we speak to are “waiting to see what is going to happen”. As we all know, they are the life blood of the housing market and activity will potentially grind to a halt without them.
There is no shortage of new properties coming to the market; but unfortunately, not as many are being sold, so housing stock levels are rising each month which means sellers chances of finding a buyer are being diluted. Locally, there are more properties currently available for sale than there has been for many years.
Despite the difficulties and challenges the world faces, many people are trying to get on with their plans. At Richard James we have seen moderate activity over the last month, it certainly hasn’t been a terrible time but more buyers and activity will be welcome over the summer months, if nothing else, to clear some of the surplus properties lingering for sale.
One of the most difficult things to understand in the current market is why many properties go up for sale at unrealistic prices. The smart sellers who attract buyers will study the market check out the competition and then price their properties correctly to sell; overpricing will give the competition the advantage.
We look forward to the summer months in the hope that normality and peace can be restored and as a consequence, a more confident economy.