What’s making the in London and the South East property market stagnant is not what the pundits claim – a hike in Stamp Duty, Brexit uncertainty, the snap election. What’s really behind the stagnant property market is the expectation among vendors that their property is worth more than it is. It’s simply greed, built upon years of extreme growth that could never be sustained.

Any one of these pundits can draw on a whole vat of statistics, citing different elements as a barometer for property values. However,  as we all know, property cannot be packaged up neatly into on asset class.

There are so many variables between properties – geographical, location, architecture, position on a street, condition, interiors, size of plot and outside space, schools and facilities – all of which make valuing correctly all the more difficult but important.

Emotional value cannot be underestimated. With some properties buyers will be prepared to pay a price because they connect with the house in a way that justifies the money; what one buyer loves may leave another cold.

While people have a need to move house, be it death, divorce, taxes, marriage or children, the motivation for moving is personal and constant.  Pundits want to blame and bleat about external forces like Brexit, a snap election or Trump’s election, but ‘it is as it is’ and we would all do well just to accept this and get on with it.

Unless you’re jumping off the property ladder completely, whether it’s a bad or a good or stagnant property market, you should view it as a win-win situation.  Buyers and sellers need to react to the market conditions and let realism prevail to move onwards and upwards.

Given that so many buyers are currently extremely price sensitive, never has it been more important to appoint a decent hardworking agent, who has the ability and experience to find and introduce the right buyer to the right house.