9
Dec
Property Perspective 2010
Nick Churton of Mayfair Office reviews the property year and
looks forward to a steadier 2011.
Overall, 2010 has been an annus mediocris for estate
agents. Or to use more contemporary cliché it has
been a year of two halves.
The first six
months were rather good with the property market getting into its
stride early in the New Year. In retrospect it looks as if
all those people frustrated by the previous two or three years of
stagnated market just wanted to get on and move. So, for the
optimistic at least, it seemed for a while that the market was on
its way back. This certainly included sellers who saw for the
first time in years a market that was offering real choice and
opportunity. Prices were also making gains and in some areas
clawing their way back to 2007 levels. This came as good news
for sellers who quickly saw the chance to extract a little more
from their sale.
But – and
there is always a but in property – halfway through the year
the mood changed. A negative pall hung over everything.
Rather like the cloud of ash from that unpronounceable Icelandic
volcano. Perhaps it was thought of a general election.
Perhaps it was the relentless news of austerity, cutbacks and
public sector layoffs. Perhaps everyone just wanted to think
about the summer holidays or the World Cup. Perhaps they just
grew tired. Certainly they grew tired of the lack of mortgage funds
and the lack of will on the part of lenders to provide any.
The lenders still say they will lend but in many cases the
over-harsh lending criteria has made buying difficult for anyone
without cash or a very substantial deposit and gold plated job
prospects. So now we are left at the end of the year with the
lowest mortgage lending on record and much of the country snowed
in. Not such a good end to a property year that had started
so well.
So the big
question now is what will happen next year? It is a hard one
to call. The snow will clear but the austerity and the
mortgage problems won’t melt away quite so quickly. Also, all
those over-optimistic sellers will have to re-adjust their price
expectations as the market settles once again. But with the UK
slowly climbing out of the economic crisis there are two things for
sure next year. The British public will be anxiously looking
forward to the royal wedding in April and to a steadily improving
property market.
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