Will he, won’t he….?

The Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, recently ruled out any immediate increase in interest rates because of the turmoil in the wider world economy and weaker UK growth; similar problems were also partly to blame for the Lloyd share sale cancellation. This is despite signals of rate rises in early 2016 given last year, which promised much relief for savers. Is this because China is running out of steam? Markets are certainly a little unsettled as too are governments, at the time of writing Japan has announced a surprise cut in its benchmark interest rate to a negative -0.1%!

Perthaps it is partly this wider uncertainty that seems to be holding the property market back and starving the pent-up demand. There has been no similar dearth of new properties to the market in many memories. Why? Record-low mortgage rates continue, banks are again loosening the purse strings bit by bit, first-time buyers are raring to go! – It would seem a good time to sell!

So maybe it’s just confidence – go on, the water looks lovely…..!