Tayside’s leading estate agency has said there was no sign of a slump in the property market last month despite a new report claiming a nationwide downturn.
The latest Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Housing Market Survey found that house prices fell in June as the poor economic climate continues to make it harder for would-be buyers to get mortgages and conclude sales.
However, Thorntons Property Services said branch returns for June 2011 were encouraging despite the grim detail of the RICS report.
Director of property sales George Solley said, “We monitor the value of deals agreed, as they occur, as an important measure against current market activity and to project actual sales which will be recorded in the months ahead. Monitoring on a month-by-month basis over the years allows us to make comparison against similar historical activity and trends.
“For example, June 2010 proved our busiest month during 2010/2011 and the total value of property involved this year was up 56% on June 2010 and up 40% in the actual number of properties involved.
“As these two statistics read together would suggest, there has been an increase in activity over the last year in middle to high-value activity. As such, the average value of property involved rose from £143,000 to £161,000. This is not necessarily a direct rise in prices of the individual properties concerned but is influenced by the number of high-value properties in the mix.”
However, he warned that the market may slow down in coming weeks.
“As the report from RICS suggests there can be a seasonal slowdown as we approach the holiday period and that may well be something we could experience this year, as normal,” Mr Solley said. “It is dangerous to read too much into short-term trends but the report from RICS certainly contradicts our reading of the regional market in June based on our point-of-sale activities and measurements.”
He also urged house-hunters and sellers not to lose sight of the key issues involved.
“We accept that there are a number of ongoing concerns about employment and rise in cost of living but those who are able to secure mortgage funds do not appear to be holding back.
“Many are taking full advantage of the privileged position in which they find themselves. The number of buyers in the marketplace is determined by the availability of finance rather than the cost of it, it would appear.”