Lucy Stamford, intermediary sales manager for Skipton Building Society, stated that estate agency brokers she dealt with had revealed the mid to high end range of the market was stagnating, with a ‘glut’ of properties sitting for sale, but not selling. This had subsequently forced a reduction in prices to generate interest.
Stamford added that the lower end of the market remained unaffected, with three or four people after each property for sale.
Stamford commented: “It is symptomatic of the market as a whole. Properties under £100,000 are still affordable to people; it’s the ones that are around £160,000 that are just not shifting. Estate agents’ business has been very slow and they’re not selling many houses, so estate agency brokers are having it tougher and will be affected further if they don’t have a remortgage strategy. Brokers need to have a remortgage strategy in place.”
Andy Frankish, managing director of Mortgage Talk, said: “This is definitely the market as a whole. The reality is, we have known this was going to happen, and if brokers are sitting there, wondering where their lead is, I am a little unsympathetic. A large percentage of the market has not worked in the difficult conditions we are facing now, but we’ve got the opportunity to excel. Brokers must go back to basics, and take care of their clients. They should already have a robust remortgage strategy in place and, if they are only just planning it now, they are probably six months too late.”
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