February burst of activity expected, as property sellers face reality

The property market is expected to benefit from a noticeable increase in activity in February and March, as homeowners face up to the market now Christmas has passed, predicts Cluttons.

Many homeowners who need to sell have sat tight over recent months, waiting for the Christmas holidays to pass before making a decision over whether to try and ride out the slump, or sell at a much reduced price. Cluttons expects that many will now face selling, with little hope of a radical improvement in the market during the first half of 2009.

The property coming onto the market over the next two months is also likely to be of much higher quality, as over-geared financial workers find they can't hold off from selling any longer.

James Hyman, Partner for Residential Sales, comments: "As homeowners face up to the fact that the market is not going to improve significantly in the short term, we can expect an increase in properties coming onto the market at realistic prices - around 25% from the peak price of August 2007. This will bring about a return of competition among sellers - who prices lowest, wins.

"While transaction levels will increase moderately in the first half of the year, we will not see a return to healthy activity levels for some considerable time. People will no longer be building equity quickly and moving on every 2 - 5 years, as they have done in the past."

For further information, visit cluttons.com