Positive news?

I am by nature a positive person - I must be otherwise I wouldn't be self employed!

I was reading the news this morning and found this titbit :-

"Looking forward, 29 percent more surveyors thought prices would fall in the next three months than rise, down from 41 percent in November.
Heavy snowfall in December kept transaction volumes subdued but surveyors were hopeful turnover would pick up in the spring. Eight percent more surveyors expected sales to increase over the coming three months than decrease, up from six percent in November.
"Surveyor sentiment does appear more positive for the coming months," said RICS spokesman Jeremy Leaf."

Now that to me is fantastic - surveyors are feeling more positive and thinking that the turnover will pick up in the spring. January has always been a quiet time but if we see increases in Feb, March and April the optimisim and movement within the market will encourage more vendors to put their properties on the market and hopefully work can pick up for everyone.

But the most negative part of it is summed up nicely with this comment :-

"The key issue now is mortgage finance. However, with commentators suggesting lending constraints are unlikely to be eased, it is hard to envisage a meaningful increase in sales levels in the near term."

We desperately need lending constraints to be eased up to start the market flowing again.
Its alot of ifs but and hopefullys but what have you got if you haven't got hope!

Reading between the lines - economic fears hit housing market?

"Government spending cuts and fears of job losses are hitting the housing market, experts have warned"

Reading a headline like that would worry most people - and probably put some people off buying or selling a house.

"The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and Ulster Bank housing market survey suggested the traditional winter dip in the market was being deepened by fears over the economy.
Expectations for prices over November, December and January were at their lowest levels since March 2009, with expectations for transactions at their lowest levels since the survey began in May 2006."

The above again sounds very worrying - until you read it again " traditional winter dip in the market" and " fears over the economy" - its normal at this time of the year for the housing market to go quieter, not that many people want to move just before Christmas and if people are looking to move they want to be in their new property before Christmas.

Thankfully it continues with "But RICS Northern Ireland housing spokesman, Tom McClelland, said the findings were not surprising. The winter months are traditionally the quietest time of year for the housing market, so it isn't surprising that expectations are lower, he said "This inevitably feeds through into the housing market, and will be a challenge for some time to come. That said however, we are confident that deals will continue to be done if the price is right"

So if you carry on reading rather than just skimming the headlines this piece explains that it is 1. normal at this time of year, 2. its fears over job safety etc that are affecting it, and 3. if the price is right your property will still sell. Confidence in the housing market is now needed.

Worry and dreams

I'm sitting here alone at my computer, kids are all organised so it is fairly peaceful in my house at the moment and I am having a moment of worry..........................do I do the RICs Associate course?
I have always wanted to be a chartered surveyor, I have put myself through numerous courses, studied into the early hours and then gone to work and looked after a small baby, took jobs I didn't really want that came with a paycut just to get more experience and I am now looking at the work required and wondering if I can do it?

I know I will buckle down and get on with it but its nice every now and again to remind yourself of how far you have come and that your dream is finally going to be within reach.

I have another dream and that is for the EPCs to be fully promoted within this country - the Green Deal brings with it a whole new range of possibilities, with a little tweaking the EPCs could provide the full advise to the householder/landlords and the Government would have an army of people who are already trained ready to go out and put that part of the Green Deal into motion.

DEAs have been promised the world by training providers (that mysteriously disappeared in the end) and there are still adverts/emails appearing offering people the chance of a fantastic new career within the energy assessing industry where as the actual truth is that there is already more than enough trained energy assessors within the UK and unless you are guaranteed work by a very trustworthy source then you really shouldn't train. I love my career and am very happy to do the work but at the moment I would advise people against paying any money to become a DEA.

I do hope that if any other country begins putting EPCs or something similar in place that they monitor the training providers and make sure that the trainee energy assessors are not taken for a ride.