Much has been said recently about the so called Property Boom, or Bubble depending on your viewpoint, with the London market being especially busy.
So has the buoyant market meant a slowdown for companies in the Quick Sale Sector?
Surely it has if people are able to sell so easily using more traditional methods such as auction or estate agents.
Well strangely this isn’t the case. As ever, when it comes to property things are never quite as straight forward as they initially seem.
There is no doubt that prices or demand outside of large urban areas and the South East have not increased at the same rate and we have seen no change in demand from these districts. We study carefully the number of enquiries we receive, the amount that are purchased and the time taken and if anything, have seen a small increase in the volumes.
Within the apparently booming areas we have seen no decrease in enquiries or purchases.
But why is this?
Well, whilst there is a lot of press hype in the market, beyond the very exclusive locations which were being fuelled by foreign investment, the truth is somewhat different. Certainly things are back to or even beyond the previous 2007 height but the level of failed transactions, fall throughs, remains the same
An unlucky person committed to buying elsewhere for example may require a cash buyer service if they have suffered three or four aborted sales (which is not uncommon).
The recent changes to Mortgage Rules have also had an impact meaning that even where demand is high, the number of actual buyers who can complete a transaction may not be as high as at it appears with some buyers struggling to meet new criteria.
Another factor may prove to be a slimming down of the Cash Buyer sector. The recent Property Ombudsman involvement as well as the formation of The NAPB has (hopefully) driven out many of the less reputable companies unwilling to work under such scrutiny.
So it seems, as is so often the way, the more things have changed, the more they have stayed the same.
Jonathan Rolande
Founding Member of NAPB and Director of House Buy Fast.
Picture Source:
Raphael Faeh
