The gloom and doom merchants are still plying their trade – retail stores announcing the Christmas trading figures , Eurozone in trouble and stark warnings from the Government. But is it all gloom and doom – the start of the year for us has been brisk – over 10 house sales have been agreed in the first few weeks and we have agreed the sale of both a number of commercial properties and sale of development land already. So in our area maybe there is a glimmer of hope and realisation from some that the time is right to do something – or at least make a start.

In Stourbridge Town centre we have put two buildings on the market in Lower High Street and High Street offering extensive accommodation both retail/possible residential and already we have seen a very encouraging level of interest with possible investors or developers looking at how these can be refurbished with the imminent start of the multi million pounds Tesco development and hopefully improvement of commercial and retail life of the Town.
Close by in Hagley land is at a premium and reportedly a site being sold for housing development for some 15 or so properties has received 17 offers – harkening back to the good days. Deal not yet done but another sign of the confidence coming back to the market – obviously in this situation is very location dependant.

The RICS Quarterly Commercial Property report for Quarter 4 of 2011 says “The brightest situation remains in industrial properties, with smaller light industrial units remaining quite well let, although more price sensitive than hitherto, and demands for rent frees on lease renewals. The take up on offices remains problematic, with good deals for tenant’s right across the board. Retail has remained quite well let, but the omens for the New Year are not very good.”

It goes on to say “Its a very tough market, void rates, increased car parking charges, and the general recession has all but killed demand for town centre property. In rural locations, there is still some demand, but it is sluggish. Something needs to kick start the economy.”
The December 2011 RICS Housing Market Survey shows that sales activity at the end of 2011 was a little stronger than earlier in the year although it still remains at historically low levels. This is broadly consistent with official data on both mortgage approvals and actual transactions. The average number of sales per surveyor (per branch) in the final three months of 2011 was 15.2 which may have been slightly down on the previous reading (of 15.4) but was still higher than anything else recorded since the Autumn of 2010.

A little more ominously, the sales expectations net balance dropped to zero suggesting sentiment towards future levels of activity may be turning slightly more cautious. For the time being, however, the new buyer enquiries series remains in positive territory, albeit only marginally, despite the sheer weight of gloomy economic news. The net balance reading of +2 (on a seasonally adjusted basis) does still imply that the increase in interest in purchasing a property over the autumn months has been sustained into the year end.

Despite the continuing economic downturn and reduction of disposable income the level of new instructions and sales remains constant.
Perhaps bricks and mortar are being seen as a safe asset.