The prime property market today

The reduced bonus pot and the need for buyers to maximise their equity means that that much of the movement in the market is concentrated in the £500,000 to £1m market, according to research by Savills.

Some vendors still haven’t come to terms with the new price reality. Expectations appear to be more entrenched particularly in the higher price brackets which is constraining transaction levels of country houses above £2m in particular.

Buyers are cautious and where a property has been on the market for any length of time a price reduction is needed to generate an initial bid. However, increasingly this will trigger competitive bidding as it gives prospective buyers the confidence they need.

The future

‘Unless there is a glut of forced sales, we expect limited demand and supply to remain balanced in the autumn. Barring any further significant economic shocks, this indicates a period of relatively static prices.

How the agents describe the regional market

Central London Overseas buyers taking advantage of weakness in sterling. The very top end (£10m plus) very slow. Buyers expecting big discounts Kensington Uncertainty Barnes Lack of good quality stock particularly in the family house section Chiswick Constrained Fulham Caution restrained by mortgage finance Hampstead Significantly improved. Demand from increasingly competitive bidders Islington Active, but lack of activity over £2million Putney Improving but constrained by a lack of stock Richmond Fickle Wandsworth Surprisingly bubbly but could go either way Wimbledon The nervous crab buys increasingly but can crawl back into the cave Canary Wharf Volatile Wapping The start of the recovery? Amersham Cautious buyers Beaconsfield Very hesitant with occasional surprise Cobham Active Harpenden Blinkered Rickmansworth Markets forming as confidence returns. Sunningdale Patchy /inconsistent Weybridge The real battle is yet to start Windsor Three steps forward, two steps back - very challenging Country Houses Dull. There are green shoots but voluntary sellers are rare. Banbury Stock shortage, motivated buyers Cranbrook Short supply in good school catchments Sales price dependant. Guildford Erratic Haywards Heath Active Newbury Buyers feel prices still falling, sellers think market is recovering Oxford Very busy Reigate Hopeful Tunbridge Wells Promising Winchester Active but yet to be productive Bath Fragile Bristol There are no properties available to ignite the market Cardiff Subdued Cirencester Fragile and unpredictable Exeter Getting more confident at lower levels Truro Lots of legwork for very few deals Chelmsford Lack of urgency Ipswich Steady but more chains being made to get the deals to happen Norwich Mid market is performing quite strong (activity but not price), top end slow Chester An air of cautious positivity Harrogate Too much over-priced stock Lincoln Erratic

Nottingham Price and quality sensitive

Solihull Encouraging Edinburgh Beginning to recover from a major shock

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