Old valuations don't tell the whole story

29 March 2010

Here’s a mind-blowing thought - when you look at the stars tonight, they are not where you see them and many don’t even exist anymore.

The fact is that although light travels incredibly fast stars are so far away that by the time their light reaches us they have moved vast distances across the sky. They might even have burnt out long ago.

This is a reasonable metaphor for the methods many use to describe how the property market is performing, looking at indicators that are usually several months old at the time of publication.

All interested parties acknowledge that the property sector is a fast-moving place that breaks down into a myriad of micro markets that perform independently of each other.

Add to this the fact that we are currently predicting the spring market based on the results of property data from December, which saw a seasonal low, and you can see this is an exercise of limited benefit.

Real-time data remains the Holy Grail of those whose livelihood depends on understanding the ebb and flow of the market.

The government’s e-conveyancing initiative holds out the promise that one day Land Registry data will approach real-time reporting.

This will be useful and the advance of technology will make real-time data ever more practicable. Meanwhile, commentators could do worse than question property valuation data.