Tuesday, Jul 22, 2008
Bleak outlook for Estate Agents
mortgagestrategy: FTBs returning to housing market
The National Association of Estate Agents has claimed first-time buyers are making a gradual return to the market.The NAEA makes the claim based on its report of a rise in average first-time buyer sales for June. The latest NAEA figures show that the average percentage share of first-time buyer sales in June has crept up to 11.8%, compared to 10.6% in May and up significantly from the 9.8% seen this time last year. But the data is not all positive.......................................
Posted by jack c @ 04:42 PM (1317 views) Add Comment
21 Comments
- If you do not have an admin password leave the password field blank.
- If you would like to request a password allowing you to add comments and blog news articles without needing each one approved manually, send an e-mail to the webmaster.
- Your email address is required so we can verify that the comment is genuine. It will not be posted anywhere on the site, will be stored confidentially by us and never given out to any third party.
- Please note that any viewpoints published here as comments are user's views and not the views of HousePriceCrash.co.uk.
- Please adhere to the Guidelines
1. last_days_of_disco said...
Oh man, this is starting to get really sad. Talk about grasping at straws.
2. jonb said...
Total transactions are down 2/3. Transactions involving first time buyers are down slightly less than 2/3, and other people slightly more than 2/3. That's what the figures really tell us.
3. mark wadsworth said...
jonb beat me to it.
It reminds me of the headline that % of victims of knife crime who were under 18 has increased from 20% t0 30% (or whatever the figure was)
this could mean
- same number of child victims, fewer adult victims
- more child victims, same number of adults
and so on and so forth.
4. peter_2008 said...
I think the slight rise in FTB may have something to do with the last round of cheap mortgages that were available around Feb/March this year, before they all disappeared from the market. My friend just bought a 2 bed semi this month with a 35 years(!) mortgage. We all tried to stop him, but he rushed in knowing he is going to be in negative equity in a few months time. It was a tough choice, because he arranged a 5.70% 2 year fixed rate deal in March, which will expire in August and he is unlikely to get another mortgage in the current climate. I am worried how he is going to cope, if two years down the line he is still in negative.
5. jack c said...
Killer statistic "the average agent is currently achieving an average of only six sales a month"
I discussed this with a colleague the other day and this is what we came up with
Average house price say £200K
Average commission 1% (in competetive market) = £2K
Average 6 sales in month = £12K total
Now lets assume there is little or no other income ie from lettings, overseas sales etc... even in a small high street EA sales volumes of this level = unsustainable business model. These people need volume to survive and need to convince vendors to drop their prices otherwise EA's (as I previously stated in 2007) are going to become a very rare species !
6. mark said...
here is one for you..
go to charcoal mortgage website and do some calculations for borrowing... I was amazed at how little people can borrow or how much you need for a deposit
7. denzil said...
This article is rubbish! No disrespect to the poster intended.
If BTL and other house buying groups drop then it would cause the other group (FTB) to rise but only as a percentage, when in reality the actual number of FTBers didn't rise at all.
This article is talking percentage not numbers.
8. str 2007 said...
Jack C
I am still amazed at houses coming onto the market at summer 2007 levels +10%.
I would have expected to see Estate Agents marking down prices along time ago.
It's not just their time, they still have to pay for plans, photos, local paper advertising space, rightmove and primelocation web space. I don't know the cost for marketing a property but their can't be much change out of £1000. Does anyone know an honest agent that would tell them what it costs to market a property?
I spoke to an agent yesterday about a repossesed property (they had 3 others on their books). Apparently hardly anyone is being lent money even with 25% deposits. They also acknowledged that most of the properties on their books would require a 50k price drop to sell.
9. jack c said...
str 2007 - agreed houses are (IMO) coming onto the market with a % built in for the expected reduced offer - I also anticipated EA's pushing prices down sometime ago (ie they need the volume/stockturn) but this hasnt happened
As you say it is quite costly to correctly market a property not to mention the associated office running costs
Interestingly since I got back from holiday during the latter part of last week I have spoken to 3 people I know who had their property on the market with all but contracts exchanged - all 3 have fallen through and the buyers site mortgage problems as the reason for pulling out. 2 of the properties are now up for sale as the vendors wont under any circumstances drop the price - as I've said before interesting times ahead.
10. it_is_going_with_a_bang said...
Why don't the NAEA give the average person a break and just shut up.
11. scandinavian pessimist said...
One year ago, FTBs were forced out of the market because of affordibllity. Today, everyone is either forced out or panicking. Hence the proportional increased of FTBs.
12. new user 2007 said...
Because FTBs were the first ones to leave the market they became an even smaller proportion (in the last 6 months) than they were a year ago. Now the other segments (normal movers and BTL) are catching up i.e. the cake is getting smaller, not FTBs are returning (everyone else is just also leaving:).
Comments like that by the "experts" sum up why only an idiot would be unable to see through their "analysis".
13. deepak said...
Then finding there is no mortgage to pay it with.
14. This comment has been removed as it was found to be in breach of our Blog Policies.
15. a saver said...
Agree with what new user 2007 @ 12 says.
What a bunch of desparate to**ers the NAEA are, GNAAA HAAAA HAAA HAA!
16. Sneaker said...
Hahahahahahaha this is just unbelievable, the insincerity is not only fascinating but also hilarious
EVEN THE IRAQI INFORMATION MINISTER WOULD BE EMBARRASSED TO SAY THIS
17. titaniccaptain said...
I just dont believe these guys are real...................im lost for words
18. Mytimeisnigh said...
Well..... this first time buyer aint going anywhere near the market, in the same way that I'm not gonna build a bonfire with fifty pound notes and then set fire to it and think I've done something really clever.
19. This comment has been removed as it was found to be in breach of our Blog Policies.
20. This comment has been removed as it was found to be in breach of our Blog Policies.
21. This comment has been removed as it was found to be in breach of our Blog Policies.