Is a tough property market the best time to buy a home?

The best time to get a good deal on buying something is when other people don’t want to.

That should theoretically make now a decent time to try to buy a property, but will that work in practice?

The property market has run out of steam and house prices are rising at a far more moderate rate than in recent years 

While the headline figures mask regional differences – London and the South East have seen prices fall, while cheaper areas are still seeing gains – even drilling down into the numbers shows most places are slowing.

Rightmove reported this week that the traditional back to school bounce was cancelled, as asking prices failed to rise for the first time in September since 2010 this month.

Meanwhile, the ONS, Nationwide and Halifax reports have all pointed to a period of much slower house price inflation.

The problem is that often to buy a house you need to sell one and-  even if you can do that - estate agents and analysts point to a distinct lack of properties being put up for sale.

On this week’s podcast, Simon Lambert, Georgie Frost and Grace Gausden dive into the reports on what is going on in the property market, to try to answer the question of whether now is a good time to buy.

Also on this week’s show, the team discuss energy vampires and what’s true and what’s false in energy saving claims. The delay to the smart meter rollout is on the agenda too.

As the Climate Strike arrives, they debate whether buying carbon credits to make up for flying is wise - or whether we should just be flying less instead.

And finally, if you fancy doing the complete opposite, the podcast finishes with a look at why now is the best time to book Christmas flights… or do your bit and get the train instead.