No doubt about it any longer.  Estate agents are panicking.  And the proof?  Today, ours gave up his Sunday - his day off - to show prospective buyers round our house.  Such a sacrifice would have been unheard of even as short a time ago as last summer! But it's a whole different story now.  No sale = no commission.  And that means that buyers have the whip hand.  They want to see round a property at their convenience and if that means a Sunday, then so be it. 

It's bleak out there in the estate agency world.

                           I log onto my computer today and find an email direct to my inbox from the Daily Telegraph inviting me to come to a property exhibition aimed at those starting “a new Life in Australia”.

Incredible.  How on earth did they get my personal home email address?

No matter. The accompanying blurb and photographs sure makes life in Australia seem attractive when compared with the stresses and strains of living here.

This is what it says:

For years, Australia has attracted a steady stream of Brits to come and start a new life on the other side of the world.
Now Telegraph Homes Abroad, provided by Approved Properties Abroad, is able to offer some of the best property opportunities in Australia, which it will be promoting at this year's A Place in the Sun Live, at ExCeL London, 25th to 27th April .  Come and visit us on the stand for your chance to win a free case of superb Australian wine.

And then it goes on to list what makes Australia so inviting:

Climate
For immigrants from Britain’s often dreary isles, one of Australia’s great appeals is its weather. The temperature in some regions can reach a staggering 50˚C, but Australia’s major cities tend to enjoy more comfortable summers of approximately 16-30˚C and mild winters of between 6 and 22˚C.

Culture
The shared heritage and language of the British and Australians are another major factor in its appeal; and sharing a language also means that Brits gain credit in Australia’s points-based immigration system.

Property Prices
In December 2007 the average house price in Sydney was AUS$553,000, (around £260,000), compared to London’s average house price of just over £356,000. Australia’s other state capitals all offer lower average prices, ranging from around AUS$280,000 (just under £130,000) in Hobart to AUS$509,000 (around £235,000) in Perth. And, as you might expect, prices outside the capitals tend to be lower still.

Continued Immigration
Around 150,000 new immigrants came to Australia in 2006, representing an 18-year high that shows no signs of falling. And not only is this representative of the popularity of Australia, it is also an important factor in continued property price growth, as demand continues to rise.

And then the email tells me to log onto www.telegraph.co.uk/homesabroad or call 0844 448 6380.

Clearly there is sufficient demand for this service to make it worthwhile offering. As I have said many times before – is anyone in Government the least bit interested in arresting the massive exodus from this country. The brightest and best are voting with their feet.

It just goes from bad to worse. The newspapers today bring more appalling statistics.

600,000 people cannot refinance their debts and are likely to go bust.

40,000 predicted job losses in the City of London.

1 million Brits are now struggling to pay off £25bn in unsecured borrowing = average of £25,000 per head.

Multi nationals are threatening to up sticks and head abroad in the wake of the news that Shire, the UK’s third largest pharmaceutical company, will incorporate its new holding company in Jersey and hold all board meetings in Dublin.

And I am trying to sell my house in this market?!

Could someone, anyone, please tell me why Gordon Brown has that silly fixed grin on his face all the time?

Does he actually think that any of us find this reassuring?  I am not amused!

Every time I talk to the estate agents handling the sale of my house they try and sound upbeat.  Each prospective purchaser they bring round is "on the verge of making an offer" – or so they say.

But that’s not the story I get from the press.  It gets bleaker by the day.  And today’s news is a shocker.

The latest prediction is that no less than 4,000 estate agents around the country (out of a total of 12,000) will be bust by Christmas!

Experts are predicting an estimated 45,000 repossessions, 20,000 job losses in the City of London and a rise in mortgage repayments for around three million households.  

Interestingly, Foxtons is reported to have seen dozens of staff leave because they aren’t making money through house sales. 

A Goodbye Blighty reader has informed me today that:

I'm down in Basingstoke, and my local newspaper has a front page announcing that around 4 to 5 estate agent offices have shut up shop in the centre of Basingtoke town centre. I've lived here for ten years and that's unheard of.

And to add to this grim news, I've heard on the grapevine that the “word on the street” is that two estate agents in Chiswick have called in the Receivers already.  I don't know which, but I have it from reliable sources that this is the case.

It's enough to give me sleepless nights!!

Off to Chiswick swimming pool today for the lunchtime session of lane swimming (12-2.0pm).  This is a permanent fixture in the pool’s timetable and it’s usually a reminder of what Britain used to be – people politely swim up and down the designated three lanes and respectfully wait their turn if there is a log jam. Pensioners (some with floats), and even the occasional disabled swimmers who have to be lowered into the water, are the usual fare.  I love it.

Today we were all rudely brought into the 21^st Century.  At 1.40pm a pot bellied man brought his five children into the pool and they were away… dive bombing, shouting, splashing, swimming across us genteel folk, chucking balls and generally throwing the place into disarray. Some of us tried to swim round them but it was hopeless. An elderly lady pitifully asked me if she should get out. I told her she absolutely should not. She had paid to swim, albeit slowly, and she should just carry on.

After I was accidentally kicked by one of the louts cutting across my lane I asked the lifeguard if we were all mistaken about lane times. “No” she replied. “We have told them it’s lanes only until 2.0pm”. The mayhem continued.

Clearly the guards either didn’t care or, much more likely in my view, were too scared to intervene further.

Yesterday, the London Lite newspaper reported

A teenage boy is in hospital after being stabbed four times in a suspected gang fight at Chiswick railway station. The victim suffered three knife wounds in his side and a fourth in his back in yesterday's attack. He was in a stable condition today.

Am I bovvered?  You bet I am.