Can You Sell Property Fast In The United Kingdom

The last year and a half has been a real roller coaster for owners of residential UK property. Or so you’d think to look at the national property price statistics. The key property price indices show that in ’08 the average residence dropped in value by twenty percent. The declines then continued into March 2010, but at that point the national indices started to show prices rising again.

House prices have kept on rising ever since. To begin with these signs of recovery were met with cynicism. The general consensus from property industry commentators was that this recovery had all the hallmarks of a “false dawn”. However, it seems that the recovery has more gas than first though and now those same industry commentators are ruminating over another question, “Is now the best time to try and sell a home since the peak of the market in 2007?

Unfortunately there is no clear answer to that!

Property valuation increases have been based on moderate growth in demand, met by a stark shortage of supply. In some areas – mainly the south and south west – demand for good property rose to crazy levels, these properties sparked bidding wars between desperate house buyers resulting in sales being achieved way in excess of the estate agents asking price.

This “hot” action in the south of England in turn scewed the property price indices and pushed up the nation averages for house price . In many areas up and down the country demand was still stuck in a rut, and prices were either stagnating or still dropping.

Given the recent elections and the general uncertainly surrounding the health of the UK economy & Eurozone there are now fresh doubt as to house prices can keep rising (even in the best areas). Until recently mortgage applications had been rising, and had even gone over the 50,000 per month mark that some suggest is a cut off point for a rising market, but recently this growth came to a halt.

So, if you own a quality property in a good location, near good schools, close to attractions, good transport linksand/or just highly sought after for any of those reasons, then… for you it is a good time to sell your UK property now — This may well prove to be the best time for quite a while.

If you own an average property on an average street… then not so much. That said: properties like that are unlikely to see any growth in value for quite some time, and like all properties in all areas, they face a real danger of a second correction bringing even more price falls.

Currently, the UK average house price is at fives times the national average salary. The historic level is 3 times salary. To most housing economists this is a red flag to the fact that the market is overvalued and due a correction. On top of that the UK economy is far from out of the woods, and now we have a new government’s austerity measures (cut-backs) to contend with. This could mean higher taxes on property transactions, and will undoubtedly mean job cuts in the public sector.

So, all in all, moving home should warrant careful consideration, especially if you need to sell property fast for any reason.