OK, I know I’ve been predicting a property market ‘crash’, or at least a slowdown, for a year or two now. It’s coming, but as is always the case, not for the reasons predicted. I thought that ’supply over demand’ would be the trigger, with new developments springing up on every accessible farmer’s field. In 1990 and 2010, it was job losses and recession. This time, there are plenty of jobs around, but interest rates have quadrupled and even if you can still afford stuff, you’re being told that you can’t and most of us are apparently believing what we’re told. And of course, no one wants to sell their house for less than they did at No.27, especially with the state of their garden and everyone knows they need a new kitchen. It won’t be long, though (give it a couple of years?) before everyone will be telling me again that ‘you can’t go wrong with property’, Homes Under The Hammer will be back on the telly and negative equity will be, once more and thankfully, a thing of the past. As always, the trick is to sit tight. If you can.
“Halifax index shows UK house price drop accelerates”
So gentle subsidence, rather than a crumble to rubble seems to be the predicted pattern for house prices. There have been what seem, with the great gift of hindsight, inevitable ‘market corrections’ every few years (1989-92 and 2008-10).
