Ups and Downs

With all of the industry and financial indicators showing an upward turn, Nick Churton of our London Mafair Office looks at how this is affecting the property market.

According to Isaac Newton, what goes up must come down. Fortunately, in the property market at least, what goes down must also come up. At least that is what happened in the '70s, the '80s and the '90s after periods of recession. Now it looks as if history is repeating itself.

Estate agents are always glass-half-full people. But can anyone have failed to notice that things are on the up? High Street spending is up, employment is up, manufacturing is up, GDP is up, the service sector is up, lending is up and the property market is up. In fact the property market is back with a vengeance in most areas. Vengeance is such a bitter word but it is a correct one in this instance - the retaliation for something harmful. The recession was harmful to so many people. But the market is retaliating now.

Is all this a blip? It is now looking unlikely. The planets seem perfectly aligned for growth in the property market. This is a great time to buy or sell. Low interest rates, plenty of stock in many areas, keen buyers, less reluctant lenders – the market is set pretty fair.

But no matter how the market looks there are still some things we must watch carefully. If purchasing we need to keep an eye on interest rates – they also go up as well as down. If selling we must not get too ambitious and let our enthusiasm for achieving a top price blind us to reality – a glut of properties in the market means a lot of choice for buyers, and buyers never select an over-priced property when a sensibly priced one is available – would you?

This is a time for level headed buying and selling - remembering at all times the laws of physics and of the market.

Please contact either Andrew Richardson, Jeremy Richardson or Richard Killoughery on 020 8643 7777 to get moving or email us at sales@christiesworld.com.

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