So as we enter the 2nd quarter of the year how are things fairing on the property scene?
The last 3 weeks have seen increasing activity on the sales front. Buyers are out in force right now, enquiries are up and the market is full of keen buyers ready to pick up something that is likely to be 20% cheaper than it was this time last year. Demand for good stock is high as buyers are now consistently offering on property they viewed the day before only to discover that the property has already been sold, something we have not seen for some time.
A combination of the ridiculously low interest rates, sellers being realistic and buyers convinced that we have almost certainly hit the bottom of the market seems to have caused quite a stir amongst us agents over the last couple of weeks, with some agents even starting to recruit more staff again to handle the increased activity. Whilst rentals remain as busy as ever, we have seen a definite softening on this side of things with tenants renegotiating their rents down and Landlords accepting to avoid the risk of a void period in these unsettled times. Many tenants using the fact that with interest rates as low as they are landlords should surely be willing to pass some of their savings on the mortgage onto them as tenants by lowering their rents.
Current rental stock continues to overflow thus causing tenants to come in with low offers on new stock and re lets which only 6 months ago would never have been happened, Landlords of course are now more flexible than ever given the amount of stock around with several new build developments completing in Canary Wharf right now.