Even a short investigation of the UK housing market will quickly turn up cautious, negative or pessimistic declarations about the UK property market.
An informal survey reveals that David Hollingworth of mortgage broker London & Country acknowledges that the mortgage market may have stabilized and actually improved with some real competition between brokers and lenders for the sales wanting to go through, but even this little ray of sunshine is clouded over by his admonition that these signs should not be seen as indicative of a full market recovery.
Rather, they should be weighed in light of total lending this year, expected to be in the range of £140 billion, as contrasted to the previous year’s £320 billion, and signal a much straitened market in context of a much more depressed economy as a whole.
Looking to the National Association of Estate Agents for some possible levity, hope or surcease brings us the stolid assertion that buying can only happen if there’s money available, and that money probably won’t be available unless the credit markets get themselves mended fairly quickly.
Peter Bolton King, the chief executive of the NAEA, said: “In recent months the market has witnessed a slight increase in housing prices, driven largely by the fact that, in some markets, demand is outstripping supply. If more property comes onto the market the house price rise will flatten or in some cases might fall slightly over the first six months of the year."
That’s clear enough, but what about Melanie Bien of mortgage broker Savills Private Finance, who says Savills expects prices to drop somewhat in 2010 as pent-up demand begins to be satisfied and more properties come onto the market.
Because of this, mainstream markets are forecast to fall by 6.6%, but are not expected to reach the lows seen in the first quarter of 2009.
Granted that house and property sellers see softening prices as a negative, those lower prices can still be seen as a very positive benefit for the hundreds of thousands of home-seekers who want to find a quiet, affordable place to live.
That is, when the down of property prices becomes an up for buyers, encouraging and allowing more property to change hands, putting more homes over the heads of more families and that certainly can be a certified good thing for Britain’s working would-be homeowners.