House sales in December 2010 fell like snow, to their lowest level for almost eight years.
The traditional seasonal low was exacerbated by the treacherous weather conditions experienced across the UK, said the NAEA.
It said that its member agents sold on average four properties in December, down from an average of seven in November, and the lowest average figure per branch since January 2003, when an average of just two properties were sold per branch.
Mike Jones, president of the NAEA, said: “December is always a slow month for agents, but there is little doubt that these figures are worse than usual.
“However, it is important not to read too much into it. This lack of sales can be explained by freak weather conditions, rather than any underlying problem with the market.
“We would hope to see a bounce-back in the next few months. Indeed, the New Year has begun very strongly and agents have reported a very busy couple of weeks that we are hopeful will continue.”
.png)
%20A%20property%20tale%20for%20our%20times.png)
Comments
Always look on the bright side of life ..de dum .. de dum de dum de dum ...
The last sentence is the key here. Yes, many industries were hit by the weather in December.
This is a big problem for a local baker who would have had to write-off much of their stock for a few days.
However, longterm, it is irrelevant to the property industry, really.
Yes, we had 2 weeks of bad weather which affected things, but any business that was going to come through during the bad weather of December, is now coming through at the start of 2011.
We don't have stock to write-off and it was purely delayed and certainly not robbed.
If you're looking to buy or sell a house in December and you are hit by terrible weather conditions, you don't just give up and forget the idea. You persue it at the next opportunity.
Now for a bakery, their business was truly robbed at this time and they won't get it back.
On a plus, think of all the newspaper ads that were read, hits to your site and Rightmove properties durng this time. More than the norm for December I would guess.