Bold buyers could return this year

Posted: 02 Jan 2009 14:20:02 GMT

Forecasts that the housing market will turn around between 2011 and 2013 have been given a shot of confidence by a recent report which claims many buyers will purchase property even before the market bottoms out.

The choice to buy property before there are signs of a turnaround could become popular this year, says the Times, but doing so is still a great risk.

Benefits of purchasing before the bottom-out include better negotiation potential for buyers and a greater amount of time to decide on a property, due to a reduced number of competitors.

Buyers in London may see growing competition for property sooner than most, however, as Yolande Barnes, of Savills, explained: "In previous downturns, it has always been overseas investors who pulled the prime London market out of the doldrums.

"An analysis of the combined effects of the housing market and currency fluctuations shows that prime London properties would now cost 50 per cent less to a new Japanese investor and 40 per cent less to a Hong Kong, Singaporean, Taiwanese, Swiss or Eurozone investor."

Those hoping to find a great deal on a property may benefit from buying a home online, as buyers could find a greater number of properties online than in their local estate agents.



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