THE past five years may have been the darkest for the licensed property market, which includes hotels, following the boom of 1988, but agents are confident this year will see the start of a slow and steady recovery.
''Just as in the residential sector, cyclical movements start at the bottom and work their way through, so the first thing that is needed is some sign of increased activity at the cheaper end of the market,'' said Hugh Guillebaud of chartered surveyors Robert Barry.
''Although this activity is already apparent, progress is now being delayed, not so much by a lack of buyers, as by a shortage of sellers.
''It is our experience that the majority of would-be vendors have come to terms with the fact that a return to anything approaching 1988 values is a long way off.
''What seems to be putting them off coming to the market is the mistaken belief that there is little activity and few ready and able buyers, but this is not the case.'' Mr Guillebaud said that, until a year ago, falling profits had combined with the lending institutions' understandable caution to bring downward pressure on values already suffering a post-boom correction.
''As in all good markets, there tends to be a period of overshoot, both at the top and the bottom of the cycle,'' he said.