Estate agents report gloomy September

Many of the local London offices of estate agency Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward have reported a gloomy September as the property market continues to face difficulty.

The Bromley office gave a particularly downbeat analysis of the month, describing it as "increasingly difficult", buyers as lacking in motivation and prices as "yet to reach a plateau".

Other negative comments included the St John's Wood office stating that confidence had taken "a major hit", Crouch End noting that most homeowners are unwilling to move and Battersea complaining about the market distortion caused by "unreasonably priced" homes.

Such comments may be a further indication that now is a good time to be renting rather than buying.

Anyone wanting to buy a house in the borough of Barnet could be in for more bad news.

A Land Data study of council figures has revealed that the highest charge in the country for a local authority property search is the £286 levied by Barnet council, propertywire reports.

Published 7th October, 2008

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