Want to put a floor under a falling property market? All you need is plenty of red tape and weave it tight to create a soft landing mat. In Britain, the government's half-hearted financial incentives to prop up house prices have failed, but giving sellers a ton of extra paperwork has done the job nicely.
Sellers have become scare since the Government added lengthy questionnaires to Home Information Packs (HIPs), in April, and insisted properties could not be marketed until they were prepared. The resulting supply and demand imbalance means asking prices are up and gazumping is back. The property shortage is exacerbated by few new homes being built. HIPs contain sales information which the seller must give prospective buyers.
Experts are divided about whether this mini-boom means the market has bottomed out. Buying activity will drop in late summer when rising unemployment, rising insolvencies and shrinking GDP takes its toll some say. Others say pent-up buyer demand is so great prices will rise next year.
For what it's worth, this journalist has put his home on the market to make the most of this dead cat bounce. With higher taxes and public sector cuts on their way after the next election, more economic pain will dibilitate the housing market over the next year or so. If you think I'm wrong, buy my flat!
Sellers have become scare since the Government added lengthy questionnaires to Home Information Packs (HIPs), in April, and insisted properties could not be marketed until they were prepared. The resulting supply and demand imbalance means asking prices are up and gazumping is back. The property shortage is exacerbated by few new homes being built. HIPs contain sales information which the seller must give prospective buyers.
Experts are divided about whether this mini-boom means the market has bottomed out. Buying activity will drop in late summer when rising unemployment, rising insolvencies and shrinking GDP takes its toll some say. Others say pent-up buyer demand is so great prices will rise next year.
For what it's worth, this journalist has put his home on the market to make the most of this dead cat bounce. With higher taxes and public sector cuts on their way after the next election, more economic pain will dibilitate the housing market over the next year or so. If you think I'm wrong, buy my flat!
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