The BBC website has recently published an article on their website that is sure to cause some concern among those of us involved in the UK property sector.
After weeks, if not months, of generally good news about the state of the housing market in the UK, economic forecasting group, The Ernst & Young Item Club, have decided to ruin the party with their prediction that the property market is at least five years from regaining its 2007 peak.
At first glance this does seem like fairly bad news but on further reflection UK landlords, or at least those that have weathered the storm in reasonable shape, may not be terribly dismayed at this news. Those landlords who are still holding a decent portfolio tend to be of the variety that see property as part of a long term plan, the benefits of which are likely to be reaped sometime in the future, as such a slow return to peak prices is unlikely to affect them too much.
In fact, the opportunity for picking up additions to their portfolios at a reduced price, for some time to come, may be welcome news for a lot of landlords who are still in a position to invest.
Despite the general feeling of optimism abounding concerning the economy at the moment, my thought is that most of us are just pleased the whole thing did not prove to be as dire as some predicted. I am not sure we are that shocked that we are in for a bit of a wait before we return to peak housing prices.
