The Intermediary – August 2026 - Flipbook - Page 97
L O C A L FO C U S
Reading
Bedford
A more realistic market
KRISTIAN KOLB
is mortgage adviser at Mayfield Mortgages
JESSICA O’CONNOR
is deputy editor
at The Intermediary
Kristian Kolb, mortgage adviser at
Mayfield Mortgages, describes activity
as “a lile bit stop-start,” with demand
strengthening early in the year before
higher borrowing costs following the
conflict in the Middle East caused
some buyers to retreat.
More recently, however, he has
begun to see activity recover.
Kolb adds: “As the market comes to
terms with everything, we are starting
to see buyers return, albeit cautiously.
“The result is that sellers are having
to be more realistic with their pricing
if they want to sell.”
He believes pent-up demand
remains on both sides of the
transaction, and expects activity
to increase as buyers and sellers
adjust to current conditions. This
is echoed by Jack Ballard, founder
and mortgage and protection adviser→
think the market here in Reading is probably quite reflective of the
UK as a whole – a little bit stop-start! e beginning of the year
saw increased buyer demand, especially from first-time buyers as
the market was widely expecting interest rate cuts throughout the
year. Following the conflict in Iran, and the subsequent increase in
borrowing costs, buyer demand dropped off. As the market comes to
terms with everything, we are starting to see buyers return albeit
cautiously. e result is that sellers are having to be more realistic with
their pricing if they want to sell. Appetite is improving. I think there is
quite a lot of pent-up demand for both sellers and buyers. What we are
seeing now is that sellers have to be realistic with their pricing if they
want to sell. As sellers and buyers get used to the market, then activity
levels start to increase. I expect September to be busy as the traditional
end of year push starts.
Most of my work centres around first-time buyers, people moving
house and remortgages. So, I tend to deal with the typical high street
lender most of the time. I think for first time buyers, Nationwide and
Halifax tend to be the largest lenders given their keen pricing and
flexible approach to affordability. Increasingly, first-time buyers are
much more focused on what and where they want to buy, and are much
better informed than previously. Affordability is the biggest issue they
face, and since borrowing costs have remained high, this in turn places a
downward pressure on prices. Reading is one of the largest towns in
England, so there are a good few new developments to choose from. e
largest is Royal Elm Park which will see around 15 hectares of brownfield
land adjacent to Reading FC football stadium developed into a mixeduse site delivering up to 618 new homes as well as a hotel and other
business outlets.
→
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August 2026 | The Intermediary
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