This has recently started to come through in some RICS data suggesting that buyer demand has stalled and properties are sitting on the market for longer.
We can back this up with our own data which suggests purchase activity in the first part of this year is down 20pc compared to 2022, arguably the last normal market we saw.
Everyone else in the property buying chain – agents, conveyancers and so on – will be suffering by similar degrees, and this amplifies the effects on the wider market.
Don’t get me wrong, there are transactions occurring. Good properties in great areas which are sensibly priced are seeing huge demand and multiple offers.
But these are sporadic and the hype around them is likely to provide a false market impression because, on the other hand, I know people who have listed their properties on the market in London for six months and are barely getting viewings, let alone offers.
Perhaps this is one of the issues at the moment. There are currently too many vested interests chasing too few data points to justify their particular narrative. As a result, we are left in limbo and the eternal question we started with – what is happening in the housing market?
The reality is, it is happening at different speeds in different parts of the market and at different times. The market is not moving in tandem as it once did.
At this stage, I think it would be good to remember some fundamental housing market basics. We are subservient to the consumer and their willingness to buy houses, and subservient to the lenders in their willingness and confidence to lend.
Until those two aspects blend themselves seamlessly together once again, we may just zig zag our way through the rest of the year.
Martin Stewart is the founder of London Money, a mortgage brokerage