News from Estate Agent Richard Blake
Estate Agents Need Your Property
The Summer season is in full swing and we are continuing to see a high level of interest in Dartmouth properties. Sales are being agreed on a regular basis. We now find ourselves with a different problem in the market, both locally and nationally and that is the lack of supply. New properties coming to the market are a rarity and local agents require fresh instructions in the coming weeks to meet the demand.
The busy Spring seems to be continuing well into the Summer and although August can be a quieter property month, all the signs are that this buoyant market will continue at least until late Autumn.
The Bank of England have again stated that interest rates are likely to begin to rise at the end of this year or at the beginning of next. The financial press have recently guessed on March or April of 2016. It is inevitable that interest rates will start to rise, but the rises will be slow and gradual. It will also be limited so financial experts are expecting interest rates to top initially at 2% or thereabouts. A spectre of higher interest rates may slow the market for a time during the turn of the year and this is another reason why those people who are considering selling in the near future should place their property on the market as soon as possible to ensure a high level of interest.
Some of you may have seen on the news or read in the press, the crackdown on foreign businesses purchasing property mainly in London which helps to create a false market there and can be a cover for laundered money. Agents, lenders and solicitors have to obtain proof of ID and residency from their clients and as agents it is recognised as good practice to check on our buyers as well. It came to light in a recent television documentary that some London agents were potentially turning a blind eye to foreign money from dubious sources. The Prime Minister is about to announce a crackdown, saying that he is determined to stamp out money being laundered through the property market.
