The amount of people wanting to move is 14% higher in Kent than in the rest of the UK, indicating that Kent's low unemployment, historically low interest rates and a pent-up demand for houses have been strong economical factors underpinning the property market.

Peter Bolton King, Chief Executive of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) reports:
‘The RICS (Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors) survey showed that just under a quarter of its respondents appear to have reported a rise in house prices, which shows how regionalised the picture is. We are already aware from our own members that house prices are being affected differently throughout the country, so to find such regional a discrepancy comes as no surprise.'

Kent has a good demand of people who would like to move, varying house prices and amenities (which provide greater scope and opportunity for profit growth) and a high speed rail link coming in 2009 (which will cut travel to London by a third). Coupled with this, the current economic climate means that would-be buyers with larger deposits may see this market as an opportunity to acquire property in areas which they could not previously aspire to, as recently as the end of 2007.

A fall in prices can actually be a positive change in the market; as house prices have soared; more and more first-time buyers have been priced out of the market. A slowdown could change all that as more homes fall within the range of would-be homeowners.

A downturn is also good news for people who already own a property and would like to move to a bigger home or more expensive area. Trading up gets easier in a downturn because the gap between the cost of smaller and bigger properties narrows; If your house is on the market for £250,000 and you are trading up to a £400,000 house, the percentage drop will be equivalent to yours. If prices in your area have fallen by 10 per cent, you will take a £25,000 hit on your property but the price of the house you are buying will have also dropped by £40,000. That's a net gain of £15,000.