Update, December 2022

Things have definitely quietened down in the estate agency world. The pundits are predicting less properties on the market in 2023 and a mixture of people dropping their prices to achieve a sale whilst others hold out for a lucky strike from the small pool of buyers. Many of the properties hitting the market at the moment are ex-rentals, as mortgage rates are showing no sign of dropping, and investors are unloading their portfolios. It's a good time to keep an eye on the auctions if you're a cash buyer.

I did have an exciting auction day of my own on Thursday, achieving a splendid £129,000 for the woodland by Trentham Lock. The reserve was only £40,000 so we were absolutely thrilled with that result! It was all the more exciting because I logged in to follow it while I was at the Family History group at Tamworth library. In the end there was an excited little group of patrons and staff watching the live feed with me and cheering as the bidding went up and up!

The canal by my house has been frozen over for a week now. It has been really beautiful, and the owner of the boat in the photo even managed to photograph a fox walking over the canal on the ice at night. The boat traffic has ground to a complete standstill. I haven't seen a boat going through Glascote Locks all week. I expect there may be a couple on the move tomorrow though, as the ice is finally beginning to thaw, and there must be people anxious to top up their water and empty their waste.