2010 is likely to be a year of hard graft
Posted on December 7th 2009
It’s that time of year again when it is traditional to do some forecasting on what the new year ahead will bring and I along with many others it would seem can see that 2010 may be a pivotal year for the market. Don’t get me wrong, I do not think 2010 is going to be a record breaker but I can see some glimmers of hope.
The first half of 2010 in my opinion is going to be challenging with potential VAT increases, stamp duty increases and higher earners having to pay more from April onwards not to mention the disruption a general election will bring. The second half of the year should start to settle down and hopefully a new government will bring renewed hope for finding solutions to sort out the state of the UK economy. If house prices continue to look stable and interest rates do not rise too much I can see the lending market softening up a bit. Existing lenders may start to compete with each other a bit more and we could see some activity from new players.
The MMR will also start to impact in the second half of 2010 as it is likely the new regulations will be rolled out in phases, it is unclear what impact on volumes this could have but I believe it will be limited. 2010 looks like a year that is going to be hard work but if we put the effort in some rewards will become evident.
