In Property This Week - 9 May

Lucky buggers you may think. After all the might of the supermarket giant in unquestionable however, a number of leading industry pundits have called into question the feasibility of their business plan.

In retort Paul Smith, chief executive of Spicerhaart, says: “We are developing a new innovative virtual estate agency business in partnership with Tesco, who will be the main distribution partner.

This business, which will benefit from our well-established property expertise, will offer a high quality estate agency service.”

That’s all very well however, the group is yet to reveal exactly how the service will operate, leaving pundits perplexed about how the group will be able to generate profit from the service.

We’ll just have to wait and see.

Prices Continue to Fall

Average UK asking prices declined 1% last month, to £239,521, Rightmove’s House Price Index reveals. Personally I think this is just the beginning. Having spoken to a number of economists over the last couple of weeks, three points seems to be being repeated again and again.

1. The current market uncertainty will continue for another 12 – 18 months.

2. Property prices in the UK will fall 7% - 10%, bottoming out later this year.

3. A ‘new normal’ will re-assert itself towards the end of 2009.

You have been warned.


Which? Survey Reveals Unexpected Problems for Buyers

Which? The consumer group has revealed that a quarter of buyers surveyed over the past five years encountered problems with their properties after moving in. Key issues included poor heating, damp, badly fitting windows and roofing problems.

Which? Also found that one in twenty house buyers don’t view their home before buying it – madness!


Volume of House Sales in Steep Decline And Estate Agents Go to the Wall

House sales have fallen by half in the past year, according to a survey by The National Association of Estate Agents, which shows members selling an average of seven houses in March compared with 14 in the same month in 2007.

Meanwhile movewithus, the UK’s largest network of independent estate agencies suggests that a third of the 12,000 firms will be out of business by December of this year. Agencies are closing branches at a rate of 150 a week. With around 4,000 job losses since the start of the year there are very dark days ahead of your friendly neighborhood agent.


Gavin Brazg