A DUNFERMLINE estate agents have welcomed "some sanity" back to the property sector and played down fears of a market crash.

Michael Maloco, senior partner with local solicitors and estate agents maloco + associates, acknowledged there were tough times ahead but he and his colleagues believe a slowdown could benefit those struggling to get on the property ladder.

“With inflation at a 40-year high and heading higher still and with eye-watering increases in gas and fuel costs, there’s going to be collective belt-tightening and less discretionary spending," he warned.

"To pretend differently would be misleading and, frankly, stupid. Likewise, to predict as some in the media have that we are on the verge of a 2008-type collapse in the property market is, we think, equally wrong.

“Just as we don’t see any further short-term house price rises, neither do we see a slump looming. A slower market will see supply and demand coming into sync and the time it takes to sell will lengthen a little due to increased competition.

"Prices being paid will moderate and we will, we think, return to a time when achieving around home report will again be the norm."

Laura Mowat, the firm's head of conveyancing, said demand for homes remained strong.

"Despite recent rises in interest rates, to still historically very low rates it must be said, there has been no sign of buyers abandoning the market," she explained.

"Additionally, employment levels are high. Post-pandemic lockdowns, we saw a feeding frenzy and that at a time when stock levels were very low.

"This imbalance has driven prices higher and higher in the last 18 months and there’s still a striking mismatch between supply and demand with the latter swamping the former.

“That simply can’t go on and indeed we welcome some sanity returning to the market even if as the result of a bit of an economic shock.

"First-time buyers are the lifeblood of the housing market and a period of modest price correction plus increased supply will benefit those looking to step on the property ladder.

"We predict that values may soften a little by perhaps a few percentage points. What is likely to change is the actual sale prices properties achieve. The days of buyers paying 10 and 20 per cent-plus over home report are, we think, coming to an end.”