Antiques are booming!

The 2009 ‘Art and Antiques Survey’ from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) highlighted the buoyant antiques business which has seen investors put their money into art and antiques rather than the beleaguered stock markets. However the bouyancy seen in 2008 in terms of price increases has subsided somewhat in 2009, most likely as a direct reaction to improved sentiment in investment markets in 2009.
The survey, querying trends in the second quarter of 2009, identified a number of interesting points:

• Contemporary art saw the largest price falls and across all price brackets, most notably in the 5,000 pounds to 50,000 pounds tier.

• Oil and watercolour sub-sector is still fairing well, showing a 5% rise in values overall

• Silverware, militaria and jewellery continue to be the strongest sector, rising 39%, 32% and 26% respectively

RICS say the survey demonstrates that people are using bonuses and high salaries to purchase large ticket items, while the smaller end of the market (< £1,000) has weakened, most likely in light of the constrains on investors discretionary incomes.
RICS report that the outlook for Q3 remains positive with demand expected to continue to grow – in fact surveyors surveyed expect demand will outstrip supply thereby causing prices to rise further. While supply is expected to increase by 13% in Q3 2009, demand for the same period is expected to increase by 41%.