Happy New Year everyone and welcome to 2009!
So what do we have in store for us this year I hear you all asking? The final quarter of last year saw the Bank of England announce two major drops in interest rates which provided a welcome relief for many of us lucky enough to be on variable rates with our lenders. Following the second cut I saw a flurry of first time buyers registering their interest for property something most agents had not seen since the credit crunch first kicked in early on in 2007.
Although I, like many still believe the market has a little way still to fall, I do believe we are almost at the bottom and certainly I think by the second quarter of 2009 we should start to see the market stabilising somewhat. I believe if the lenders can introduce some decent products to the market with a decent loan to value for both the first time buyer and the discerning investor, this could kick-start the property market back off again and get 2009 on its feet.
Canary Wharf remains a unique market and although we have been hard hit with the loss of Lehman’s altogether and many jobs within the financial world at canary wharf we still remain strong with the announcement of JP Morgan set to move its European headquarters to Canary Wharf, the company have bought land at Canary Wharf for £237m with a view to moving into a new 1.9m sq ft development, which would make it the largest tenant at the Dockland’s site. This along with the Olympics’ in 2012 will help to turn things around and put canary wharf back up there once again. We certainly saw some of the highest capital growth achieved in London and the surrounding areas during 2007 and of course have probably suffered the most and perhaps been the hardest hit by the credit crunch.
Overall most including myself remain optimistic about the market in this incredibly exciting area and have no doubt that during 2009 things will only get better!