Time to Move

Esther Broomhall of EB&P looks at the property market this spring, and suggests if you want to move there is no time like the present.
 

Imagine the property market as a clock face. Twelve o’clock is a rampant buyers’ market with lots of property available and buyers playing hardball with offers. Six o’clock is a sellers’ market, with prices rising quickly and purchasers panic buying, often going straight in at asking prices to secure properties. These are times in the market when things are most uncomfortable and precarious. These markets generate gazumping or gazundering, practices that often do more harm than good and are strenuously discouraged by experienced estate agents.
 
Between these market extremes, at three and nine on our clock, is balance. Buyers have more time to make their choices and try reasonable offers. With more property on the market, sellers have more competition and have to price reasonably to attract buyers. More than that, their homes should be in the best possible structural and tastefully decorative condition. Clutter will have to go.
 
The market this year feels more in balance than it has been for a long time, a rare period when buying and selling property is relatively calmer, easier and less of a lottery. For those thinking of moving this spring, embrace the opportunity that falling interest rates bring more buyers. Sadly, this time of equilibrium will pass. It is the way of the property market. Our advice is if you want to move, now is a wonderfully opportune time to do so.