Reports in the Telegraph today suggests that property viewings are down by as much as 50%! According to the National Association of Estate Agents their members have “seen a marked reduction in viewings and enquiries, particularly in the last 10 days, with quite a rapid slowdown,” according to their chief exec.. The article goes on to suggest that “there may be some casualties” amongst the nations 25,000 estate agents.
I viewed 19 houses last week with clients. I met 15 agents and not one mentioned this trend but if it isn’t ‘a thing’ now then perhaps it might become one.
This may lead to a slow down in the market with those who ‘have’ to sell struggling to find a market. Auctions may shut down temporarily and it could become difficult for surveyors and valuers to visit properties to check the structure and the value – assuming that they can compute the latter if the market freezes.
Interesting times ahead. Opportunities will arise for some but there will be a lot of nervousness too and we may make things much worse with headlines like this.