The world's housing markets have seen the sharpest slowdown in prices and
transactions for over a generation - nowhere more than in Britain. So what can the
property industry learn from the experience?
This book, by property writer Graham Norwood, sets out the signals that were appearing
from 2005 onwards as the foundations of the industry began to crack.
He asks: why were they missed? Why did so few people speak out against gluts of apartments
in major city centres targeted at falling numbers of investment
buyers? Did we not know or care that property scams were becoming rife? Could we not see
at least some alarm signals from the problems destroying the
property industry in Spain?
For the first time, senior figures from all elements of the residential industry
-developers, agents, analysts, lenders, planners and pundits - comment on what
they believe led to the downturn.
The book then sets out what the industry may learn from the experience.It compares those
developers and estate agents that down-sized or collapsed
altogether with those that survived and, in some cases, even prospered in thedownturn. It
identifies common indicators amongst those that remained strong
through a 50% collapse in sales and a 25%-plus collapse in prices, and offersinsights into
how policies of diversification and modernisation helped many
companies survive.
It also looks to the future and presents a sobering vision, created by scores of experts
interviewed during the downturn, of what the market may be like when
volumes, prices and spirits move upwards once again.
Table of Contents
Introduction;
How the Crash Happened;
The Victims - Those Who Fell; How Did the Others Survive? The Developers That Suffered;
Developers That Prospered;
What Should Agents and Developers do in the Future?
Conclusion
128 pages, Paperback
