We were told that by estate agents as well, the house prices in our area were not decreasing but buyers were offering less.
hahaha what sort of land agent forgets that the buyer pays for everything including their livelihoods?
Tis a small wonder that vendor greed and ego have wiped out the memory of consecutive targeted SDLT rises (initially at £1m, then £2m, then the 2014 steps, recently non-residences) having anything to do with softening the market. Shame that interest rates have skewed all asset markets, temporarily inflating housing prices. Utter stupidity that anyone who can barely afford one home would not wish their home were worth a fifth what it is on paper, since that would actually give them the freedom to adapt to their life changes, family, jobs, aging...
Unless you actually believe the housing market is one-directional, it will come down. If it matters when and by how much, you've probably taken some dicey decisions to get where you are.
The pros get it; their comments are quite revealing. Independents with real local knowledge and professional skills will hopefully survive in this inevitably volatile time before, as well as, over the coming downturn better than the 'corporates' in the industry, who have done very well in recent years from a one-trick pony.