There is enough money out there plus willing banks happy to lend, but deals are in short supply, and by that I mean the 30% margin on GDV deals. You could argue that the competition is fierce which is driving down the margins or simply that many vendors are as yet not being realistic. These factors have always been there but we expect this to change later in the year when poorer economic data plays out.

I can see some financially astute vendors looking to cash in when the indictors filter through. We are already seeing various reports showing a slowdown in house prices such as Nationwide:

“The building society said prices dropped 0.4% in April, and the annual rate of price growth slowed to 2.6%, the weakest pace for almost four years.” BBC website.

We all take the daily news with a pinch of salt but those of us at the coalface will echo the above. Our recent experience in London is of a definite slowdown, where it’s now a buyer’s market and they have more choice and are taking longer to make offers. Even more reason to stick to our margins and not fall into the trap of taking deals on just because the pipeline is thin.