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The year for bargains

30th December 2008 | back to article listings BACK    print this article PRINT

No time of year attracts people to the thought of being able to grab some bargains than the days after Christmas. Indeed, with online shopping, some even find time to shop online on Christmas Day itself. The days that follow are filled with shoppers thronging the high streets, seeking out cut-price goods, safe in the knowledge that they are not spending their cash on something that is about to appear in a parcel under the tree.

But while the sales offer a particular time for cheap shopping, the property market works to a very different timescale. While over time prices go up, the cyclical nature of markets means that every few years or so there is a chance to take advantage of lower prices, not least when there is a significant downturn in the overall economy.

So it is now. Prices have fallen in some areas by as much as 20 per cent, the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) chief executive Peter Bolton King noted this week. Looking forward to the year ahead, he suggested that this trend will continue. Yet lower prices are on the way and with this will come numerous opportunities for investors.

He stated: "Some people are beginning to cotton on to this - which is why our members are starting to see enquiries increase again, as people begin to believe they can find a bargain."

Such a situation could even lead to a recovery in the market, with Mr Bolton King suggesting: "It seems possible to me that once the recovery begins, we could see a bounce as pronounced as the fall," although he noted that for this to happen it would need an increase in mortgage lending, further base rate cuts - which would then need to be passed on by lenders - plus an increase in consumer confidence.

But optimism that more buyers - be they investors in property, home movers taking their chance to rise up the ladder or first-time buyers - is not confined to the NAEA. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) noted in its preview of 2009 that its own recent surveys had indicated a bottoming out of the market, with the likelihood being of transactions starting to rise again. Rics predicted an increase of ten per cent in 2009.

Come the new year, the last of the bargains will be snapped up, normal prices in the stores will return and the shops will be quieter - not least because of the recession - with Christmas 2009 a long way distant. But for those investing in property, the fun may be only just beginning.

This is a press release by Assetz also available at http://press.assetz.co.uk/articles/4560.html. Alternatively, please see our full press release archive.

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