Banana

Save us from statisticians and headline seekers! Rightmove, the estate agent’s equivalent of a computer-dating agency, have issued a report to the press saying that agents are ‘awash’ with new instructions from homeowners rushing to sell. They also state that with 30,000 homes being added to agents’ registers every week, a shortage of buyers is likely to force down prices.
That sort of naïve analysis is insulting. Even if they are correct in saying that each week 30,000 homeowners decide to put their homes on the market, it would only have a downward effect on prices if those 30,000 were emigrating. As it is, most are putting their homes on the market with the anticipation of buying an alternative property.
It is true that the volume of transactions is still low and this is due to the continuing shortage of mortgage funds whilst banks and institutions concentrate on building up their capital reserves. Rightmove, instead of being gloom-mongers, should have welcomed the increase in the number of properties for sale as an indication of people’s fundamental confidence in property as a personal investment, proof of the disastrous previous effect of the now vanquished HIP and assurance that the demand will be there when mortgage availability increases.
Certainly, there is more property being advertised and this is a good thing because choice stimulates the market. Go into a shop with half empty shelves and you soon head for the exit. Go into a shop with a wide selection and you may be encouraged by what you see to make the effort to find the money to buy.
Agents must also play their part. The continuing lack of easily available mortgages, coupled with the difficult past 18 months, has generated a slightly negative attitude in some. More than once, potential buyers have told me that they expressed interest in a property, viewed and attempted to make an offer only to be told to come back when their own property was under offer – which came first, the chicken or the egg? If you meet with that sort of attitude, insist that your offer is submitted, remind the agent that your situation could change within the week and there are plenty of equally attractive properties offered with other agents. I stress that this dismissive attitude is rare amongst agents, most of whom are consummate facilitators but, when encountered, it needs to be challenged.
We are in an age of quick fixes and instant responses. In this fast moving world, property is a slow moving anachronism but this is its strength because it does not indulge in knee jerk reactions. The buzz word in property developers boardrooms is ‘Banana’, standing for ‘Build Absolutely Nothing Absolutely Nowhere At All’. Put this acronym alongside the Office of National Statistics’ prediction that our population will increase by 4.3 million in the next seven years and the potential scarcity of homes is inescapable. The old maxim ‘nothing like bricks and mortar’ is as true today as it was in previous recessions and depressions.
SUSSEX CRAFTS
The Sussex Heritage annual awards were announced earlier this month. The Building Craft awards that go to individuals are a celebration of continued traditional building skills. They mainly relate to meticulous restoration and this year’s awards were no exception. Flint work at Brighton, Oak Joinery at Newick and ecclesiastical stonework at Ticehurst were all singled out for recognition along with the respective craftsmen. Photographs and the judge’s comments can be seen on the Trust’s interesting website at www.sussexheritagetrust.com
©July 2010

NOTE:
The writer is an independent chartered surveyor and has no connection with any firm of estate agents or surveyors. For reasons of client confidentiality he writes under a pseudonym. Comments and enquiries are welcome and may be sent c/o Wealden Advertiser Property, Gardens & Interiors.

Print this page