What are sellers doing at the moment in the property market? They’re either in one of these categories:

Those with no need to sell

If the property was on the market, the value of their house, to this group, is probably still at the level that they marketed it at. In reality it is likely to be less – maybe between 10% – 15% depending on which economist / spectators you believe.

They are likely to still be paying their mortgage and find it affordable – either thanks to government grants or being able to work. So there is no need for them to accept a lower price. The issue arises when they are trying to find a buyer who may need to increase their deposit – or find the a new lender.

A lot of these sellers may decide to pull their house off the market and wait which would be a safe bet for a number of people. Those who don’t need to sell would be better off waiting.

Those who need to sell

The fire sale of 2008 is not going to happen in this market. The reason is that during the previous crisis there was a fundamental flaw in the market which created a situation for the banking / insurance industry which had never been seen before.

Governments are able to bail out people using grants and loans instead of putting all of the money into the banking system. This reduces the number of people who are struggling financially. There are still a number of people who may struggle to pay their mortgage – particularly those who are over-leveraged.

Overall

So the market supply should drop slightly due to those not needing to sell pulling their property off the market – but increase in supply due to a lower number of people adding property to the market at a reduced value.

This should have a downward pressure on prices so there may be some bargains out there once the market re-opens for those who are interested