Changes - Nova News Editorial June 2014

At the time of writing we are in the midst of the Bank holiday season when they all come along at once like the proverbial London buses. This is the time of year you can guarantee cold weather and frosts nipping off your emerging potatoes.

The selling agents can find some bank holidays so busy they don’t know which way to turn and other times when the weather is that pleasant that everybody has gone off to the beach, something to look forward to in the summer we all hope. By the time you are reading this we will be getting into summer mode and hopefully enjoying some balmy evenings outside with a glass of wine or cup of tea, whichever gives you the most pleasure.

Looking back on the Bank holidays I was in a car showroom recently and noticed how busy they seemed. I went back to the same outlet a couple of weeks later and they were telling me that they could have had twice as many sales staff on that weekend for the volume of people who came through the door. Although the economy does seem to be showing signs of improvement there are always some areas which are less buoyant. Take the price of scrap for instance, this has been sky high in recent weeks but with the weakening of the Chinese economy the price of scrap metal has fallen dramatically.

There are always changes taking place within the housing industry and one that may have a dramatic effect are the new regulations surrounding the mortgage market. It may now take you hours to fill in your mortgage application and they will want to know almost everything about your finances from how much you spend on a holiday to the weekly cost of your groceries and pet food. I am so glad I am past the age of having to go through that again. It remains to be seen what effect this has on the housing market when the market has, without doubt, shown considerable signs of improvement in recent months with prices in Newport seeing some growth. Remember though that if you are moving up market the gap between the lesser price and the higher value homes will increase so, if you are moving up market, it pays to present the home you are selling at its very best in order to achieve the best possible price.

Andrew Mason Independent Valuer 07507 928008
Email andrew.mason1551@gmail.com