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It won't get much worse

A west country estate agent has lifted the lid on the state of the town's housing market - and the picture's not all gloomy.

Iain Cowan, a former chairman of the North Wiltshire branch of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and a 20-year veteran of the Swindon housing market, says demand for homes in the town remains high, even though buyers are feeling the pinch.

He says that although sales are tailing off and house prices are dropping new buyers, once priced out of the market, are finding they can now get on to the property ladder.

Mr Cowan, a director of Atwell Martin in Old Town, says that although the figures may appear grim, as long as people are still walking through their doors the market should remain stable.

He reckons Swindon house prices are down two to three per cent on a year ago and the number of people coming through estate agent doors is at 60 to 75 per cent of last year's figures.

He said: "We are still selling property, people are just being a bit more circumspect about things.

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"Generally all agents are holding high levels of property on their books, because people are still wanting to sell and move around. There is always interest in property and, if it is sensibly priced, there is a market."

Mr Cowan said that potential buyers needed more capital behind them than 12 months ago owing to lenders tightening their belts.

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