You are here: cherry > Press releases for February 2011 > Nick Hopkinson, Director of PPR Estates, comments:

21 February 2011

“With house sales volumes remaining on the floor even the estate agents acknowledge that current asking prices are more a reflection of home seller fantasy than what anyone else will really pay in 2011 for property across most of the UK. Only super-premium London properties are achieving anything like asking prices due to a very limited availability of multi-million pound property being sought by cash-rich foreign buyers. This does not apply anywhere else. All the house price indices, therefore, need to be read with a high degree of caution at the moment as they are very likely to give a falsely optimistic reading of the market as transaction levels are so low. “Mortgage lending remains strictly rationed with no real prospect of a lending ‘thaw’ in 2011 according to the main lending banks. Rampant inflation, which is really running at over 5% for the man on the street, austerity cuts and tax rises are putting the squeeze on many struggling homeowners. Many potential sellers may well look back and wish they’d accepted a more realistic sale price last year once interest rate rises start to inevitable kick-in later this year.” If you would like to speak to Nick, you can contact him on 07768 144497.

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