Inflation is running at around 9% and forecast to increase whereas wages are nowhere near keeping up. What is more interest rates are higher than they’ve been for a decade and are rumoured to be increased to curb inflation and living essentials such as energy, fuel and foodstuffs are rocketing in price.
It therefore seems to me the strong housing market seems to be defying the laws of financial gravity.
The only silver lining is that unemployment is at a historic low but that said a lot of jobs are zero hours contract and poorly paid.
I am writing this because I am frequently asked by Member’s to forecast the market, the main question is will the strong market last. I reply that logically it cannot so don’t bank on it when budgeting. Be cautious, think very carefully before committing to capital expenditure and big ticket items.
Some companies breeze through a quiet market while many others suffer badly or don’t survive. To flourish in a quiet market my advice is to improve your marketing with a view to winning a larger share of a smaller market and I have been working for some time on ideas to help Members achieve that.
That said we intend to launch an improved range of Membership Benefits in the summer so watch this space for more information.
Blog by Geoff Salt