Press Release: 00066

12 May 2008

Market turmoil in sales and lettings

Source: http://www.ukpropertyshop.co.uk

It seems that the slowdown in the residential property sales sector is not getting any better, although Rightmove reports that asking prices are still going up. Looked at objectively, this is a rather strange phenomenon, but from the perspective of individuals putting their home on the market for the first time, it is quite understandable. The first thing people do when they think about selling is to look at the prices of other similar properties for sale and then assume that the value of their own home is slightly higher or lower than the average (usually higher). However they probably do not know how long each of these other properties has been on the market, nor the actual sale prices of those that have been sold very recently. It therefore takes quite a while for the market to catch up with what is actually happening. Of course they could just ask their local estate agent for a professional opinion, but does anyone want to believe that their home is actually worth 5-10% less than prices being quoted for the same type of property just around the corner?

The message is really quite simple. If you want to sell your home, ensure that you start off at a price lower than all the others. Then keep in regular contact with your estate agent to find out what is happening. If you are not getting serious interest from prospective buyers, drop your price until you do. Buyers are out there, but there are fewer of them and they have less money to spend, either because their own home has fallen in value, or they are having problems getting a mortgage - or both. The upside of this is that when you do find a buyer, at any price, you can then go out and bargain for a lower price on the property you want to buy.

You might be excused for thinking that there is nothing much happening in the property market and estate agents are just sitting around waiting for the bailiffs to turn up. In fact the lettings side of the business has gone into hyperdrive, with people renting instead of buying, and rents are reported to be rising in many parts of the country.

The UK Property Shop Moving Location Index for April still tells a story. Belfast has suddenly appeared at the top of the league table of most popular places to buy, despite the huge price rises that have taken place in Northern Ireland over the last couple of years. Kingston upon Thames is also a stranger at this end of the league table, unlike Aberdeen, Jersey and Newquay that have often featured in this column. If you have the cash and an eye for a bargain, now is the time to get out there.

Moving Location Index (Towns) - April 2008

Rank	Town	County	Points
1	Belfast	County Antrim	259
2	Kingston upon Thames	Greater London	177
3	Aberdeen	Aberdeenshire	164
4	Jersey	Channel Islands	142
5	Newquay	Cornwall	133
6	Weymouth	Dorset	129
7	Lincoln	Lincolnshire	114
8	Falmouth	Cornwall	107
9	Dumfries	Dumfries & Galloway	98
10	Cambridge	Cambridgeshire	91
11	Skegness	Lincolnshire	88
12	Newcastle upon Tyne	Tyne & Wear	86
13	Greenock	Inverclyde	86
14	Derby	Derbyshire	84
15	Morecambe	Lancashire	82
16	Truro	Cornwall	81
17	Potters Bar	Hertfordshire	81
18	Lancaster	Lancashire	79
19	Darlington	Durham	77
20	St Ives	Cornwall	71
21	Brighton	Sussex	67
22	Norwich	Norfolk	64
23	Dorchester	Dorset	63
24	Elgin	Moray	61
25	Ormskirk	Lancashire	61
26	Bridport	Dorset	60
27	Douglas	Isle of Man	60
28	Perth	Perth & Kinross	59
29	Penzance	Cornwall	55
30	Forfar	Angus	54
31	Hull	Yorkshire	51
32	Harrogate	Yorkshire	51
33	Selby	Yorkshire	51
34	Wadebridge	Cornwall	51
35	Annan	Dumfries & Galloway	50
36	Isles of Scilly	Cornwall	50
37	Winchester	Hampshire	46
38	Chester	Cheshire	45
39	St Andrews	Fife	45
40	Folkestone	Kent	45
41	Enniskillen	County Fermanagh	42
42	Didcot	Oxfordshire	42
43	Cardigan	Ceredigion	42
44	Brixham	Devon	41
45	Kirkintilloch	Dunbartonshire	41
46	Maidstone	Kent	40
47	Rochester	Kent	40
48	Fareham	Hampshire	40
49	Barnsley	Yorkshire	40
50	Pocklington	Yorkshire	40

Note for Editors about the Moving Location Index and UK Property Shop

The UK Property Shop Moving Location Index is based on data from a sample of people looking to buy a property and using the website to register their property search requirements with estate agents in each town. From this data a score is calculated according to the number who are considering either moving within the town where they live, or away from their home town and into another town. The Moving Location Index is not a measure of quality, simply an indication of the relative proportion of home buyers wishing to move into or out of a town, which is influenced by many factors.

The UK Property Shop website www.ukpropertyshop.co.uk was launched in 1999 and is a popular source of information for people looking to buy, sell, rent or let residential property in the UK. It also publishes the National Directory of Estate Agents, the most complete and up to date register of all UK estate agents and letting agents.