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UK Real Estate: A Riddle Wrapped in a MysteryInside an Eniga

By
Real Estate Agent with Premier Estate Properties

My London colleague, Nick Churton of Mayfair International Realty, has once again shared his unique view on the puzzling state of the UK property market this fall. It is my pleasure to share with you that, despite the conflicting signs, Nick finds there is reason to be very optimistic.  Read on, and enjoy!

 Winston Churchill once said of Russia that the vast country was "a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma".  Much the same can be said of the real estate market.

 The big question in the UK at the moment is, just what is happening? August has been one of the most active on record, and this following a rather busy July.  So, after the dark and dreadful credit crunch months, what on earth is going on?  After all the ‘real estate experts' seem to think that the market could take many years to pick up again.  But then what do they know?  Where were their warning voices when the credit crunch first happened?

 This underlines the fact that nobody can really be a true expert forecaster in real estate.  We can expertly play the hand we are dealt, and we can skilfully help buyers and sellers to make the best of the prevailing conditions.  But to try and out-guess the real estate market is an entirely different proposition.

 So, if we aren't going to be foolish enough to try to foretell the future, at least we can try to understand the present.  What the gurus couldn't factor in was the behaviour of the house buyer and seller when crisis turned to opportunity.  Neither group is silly.  Homeowners understand that there is a strong chance that the market has hit the bottom and now the only way is up.  So the longer they wait the more they may get for their property.  Buyers, on the other hand, are keen to buy now as they anticipate that this is the perfect time to purchase.  Indeed, latest figures for the UK show that residential real estate is now at its most affordable for thirteen years.

 The recent property activity is a riddle, and the mystery of where things will go next does lie within the enigma that is the market.  But one thing we do know: those astute buyers and sellers do understand a thing or two about supply and demand.  Reluctant sellers mean a dearth of real estate coming onto the market and that, in turn, is stimulating a level of activity that is now causing competition between many buyers.  Hence the recent surge in property activity.  In some areas this means multiple offers and even rising prices against the run of play and certainly against the forecasts.

 So, what a great position to be in.  Don't sell and you will make money.  Buy now and you will make money.  It's win-win and that is a concept that should be no riddle, mystery or enigma to anyone.

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