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Iain Cowan, director of Atwell and Martin, Chartered surveyors.

A SWINDON estate agent has lifted the lid on the state of the town's housing market - and the picture's not all gloomy.

Iain Cowan, a former chairman of the North Wiltshire branch of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and a 20-year veteran of the Swindon housing market, says demand for homes in the town remains high, even though buyers are feeling the pinch.

He says that although sales are tailing off and house prices are dropping new buyers, once priced out of the market, are finding they can now get on to the property ladder.

Mr Cowan, a director of Atwell Martin in Old Town, says that although the figures may appear grim, as long as people are still walking through their doors the market should remain stable.

He reckons Swindon house prices are down two to three per cent on a year ago and the number of people coming through estate agent doors is at 60 to 75 per cent of last year's figures.

He said: "We are still selling property, people are just being a bit more circumspect about things.

"Generally all agents are holding high levels of property on their books, because people are still wanting to sell and move around. There is always interest in property and, if it is sensibly priced, there is a market."

Mr Cowan said that potential buyers needed more capital behind them than 12 months ago owing to lenders tightening their belts.

He believes that many of the problems lie with mortgage institutions lending 25 per cent less money to flat-hunters and 10 per cent less to other home-seekers.

He added: "Although the volume of sales has fallen off a bit, the problem is not through lack of demand - it is through lack of funding.

"We are seeing visitors to our offices but funding institutions are avoiding all risks and only want to lend if it is entirely safe.

"People are interested but their interest is based on borrowing money and if they can't do that, problems begin to occur."

Mr Cowan predicts a stable situation for the rest of the year.

He said: "I think we are getting close to seeing the bottom of prices.

"And although we don't think things are going to go much lower we also do not think they will be going much higher until the end of the year.

"Stability is what people can live and deal with and that is what we are expecting."

8:44am Friday 4th July 2008

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