Dulwich Property Market Q1 2010

As we near the end of Q1, the results have perhaps surprised even us. We still struggle to secure enough instructions to meet demand, but it is clear that despite the doom mongers, the market is strong and stable. Our figures show us to be far in excess of those from the same period in 2008 and 94% up on 2009. As our Managing Director predicted, the ‘institutions’ recorded a downturn in December and some warned this was indicative of the prophesised ‘double dip’. Call us simplistic, but we call this downturn Christmas and it happens every year.

Lettings has been affected by the number of ‘accidental’ landlords who, unable to find a buyer, rented last year but are now able to sell as the tenancies come to an end. This has created lots of potentially homeless tenants and a shortage of properties. Many agents who neglected their sales business and focussed on lettings to survive the darkest days of recession are now suffering and are slashing fees to secure market share but in so doing don’t have the resources to properly market a property.
Generally, we don’t pay much attention to what the average house price is doing as the average figure is not indicative of the extremes it represents. This in part explains the discrepancies in figures released by Nationwide and Halifax as their client bases are geographically different. What happens in Dulwich may be significantly different from what happens in Fulham, so instead we focus on local trends and prices.

The key to successfully selling a property is in the pricing and local knowledge of the area. Prices need to be demonstrable and underpinned with recent comparable evidence. Over priced property becomes stale very quickly and will always be the subject of a mortgage valuation or equivalent. Getting it wrong can prove costly. Our job is always to achieve the best possible price, and to do this you need to know your market inside out – especially at a time where many surveyors have to consider the risk factors to the lenders they represent. Whilst lending criteria has relaxed, it’s far from easy for many of the first time buyers who underpin the market to secure funding.

The spectre of the general election looms and as usual the press look for reasons as to why this will have a negative impact on the housing market. Let’s be clear, almost every prediction in the last 20 years in terms of when the market will crash and by how much has proved wrong. The reality is a new Government will take time to introduce new policies however the economy and job security continues to improve. Further, as buyers see prices slowly rising, they won’t want to lose out and will be keen to secure a property before their target home becomes too expensive. This is compounded by the shortage of new homes which the Government believe will be 50% below that required to meet demand in the South East alone.

In terms of this company’s area, London, what is telling is that Dulwich office consistently registers 35% more applicants than any other Bushells office which proves what I have always believed; Dulwich is the place people want to live. As a local resident, I may be biased, but clearly, I am not alone.

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