Realistic pricing is key to making a sale

While estate agents and building societies predict the south will buck the national downward trend, with prices locally staying level or fractionally up, buyers and sellers are expected to remain cautious. The savvy seller will be the one who remains “realistic about the value of their home” according to Wendy Evans-Scott, president of the National Association of Estate Agents.

“There is a huge amount of pent up demand – many people are keen to sell but wary of putting their property on the market, and many buyers are wary too,” said Wendy, who is manager of Hamptons International in Epsom.

“Prices have been flat for some time and will remain flat, if not slightly down in some areas - but sellers that accept this situation are receiving offers and moving successfully.”

With finance still hard to obtain, Wendy says buyers have become much more savvy, accessing pricing websites and land registry figures to ensure they don’t pay too much.

“If the price is too high, the property will not attract interest,” counselled Wendy.

“Gone are the days when a property could be over-priced but still get a lot of interest just because it was in the ‘right road’.”

Hamptons International – along with the Nationwide and the Halifax building societies – are predicting that property prices in the South of England will hover around zero percent.

Most experts says prices nationally will drop by anything between two per cent and five per cent. However prime central London property is expected to continue to surge with forecasts suggesting a rise of between four per cent and five per cent.

“The market in the south has not been hit as hard as other parts of the country due to the close proximity to London,” said Wendy.

“Even so, transaction levels are significantly down and I don’t see this statistic improving greatly next year. But with more realistic expectations all round, perhaps we might see a little more activity.”