Hacienda.co.uk reports on its State of the Market Survey (July 2008)
August 19th 2008
A recent survey conducted by Hacienda.co.uk on the State of the Market aimed to reveal the true picture of what estate agencies are contending with. With so much negative press coverage, it was time to talk to the people at the coal face.
More houses for sale
Despite the concerns about dropping house prices, there has been an increase in instructions, with 63% of agencies reporting more properties on their books than this time last year. This can be partly attributed to an increase in time it takes to sell a house, but agencies are busier than ever with valuations.
Big drop in offers
However, a massive 91% of agencies reported that the number of offers on houses has dropped. One agent responded saying that they were down from over 100 completions in July 2007 to only three in July 2008, and sadly that report was not uncommon in the responses received. Not only has the number of offers dropped off significantly, but 68% of agencies reported that the offers being made are between 5% and 10% less than the same time last year.
Barriers to completing
Whereas interest rates were once the main issue with affording a mortgage, now we hear that buyers, particularly first time buyers, are having immense difficulty getting a mortgage at all. 90% of agencies reported that buyers were having difficulties raising the necessary deposit to get a mortgage, and 84% of agencies finding that buyers had no mortgage offer at all.
Have HIPs helped?
HIPs were meant to help the process of buying and selling houses, but it seems they are either making no difference, or hindering the business. 50% of agencies believed that HIPS had increased the cost of the selling a house, and made little to no difference to the buyer. Many respondents found that buyers didn’t ask or show interest in the HIP, and further than that, buyers solicitors would not trust the searches in the HIP and would carry out duplicate searches.
Trip or fall?
How long is the current stall in the housing market going to last? With such pent up demand for housing in the UK, what will it take to get the market functioning again? A third of agencies believed that the current slowdown will last less than a year, but more (45%) thought that this could last up to two years.
What can be done?
The feedback from agencies about what the Government and the banking sector could do to help the housing market followed distinct themes.
Overall, the state of the market is very hard at the moment, with the biggest barrier seeming to be the lack of availability of mortgages, followed by consumer confidence and then interest rates. There is still great demand for houses, but the majority it seems are unable rather than unwilling to purchase.
Further details of the survey results can be found on the Hacienda.co.uk website at http://www.hacienda.co.uk/press/2008/august/survey-results.aspx
Hacienda will undertake the next State of the Market survey in January 2009.
About Hacienda.co.uk
Hacienda.co.uk is the trading name of The Useful House Map Company Limited.
Hacienda is an interactive and easy to use house mapping portal that allows the consumer to quickly find available properties in a desired area displayed on a map.
What makes Hacienda different is that it doesn’t just show a few selected properties on the map at one time - it shows all available properties on the map - which means no more clicking backwards and forwards. If the consumer is looking for a house or flat, on a particular road, near a particular school or transport node, or even near the park, it is instantly accessible and highly visual.
The concept is the brainchild of Paul Ordman, who after experiencing frustration and irritation during his own search for a new home, started to experiment with mapping systems to see if there was a better way to find a home. After researching other portals and visiting many estate agents, he formed The Useful House Map Company to help other people find a home.