Opportunity is knocking amid all the teeth-gnashing surrounding the credit crunch and the prospects for the housing market. Not the opportunity for homeowners to make a tidy profit, for a change, but for local buyers finally to have a realistic chance of moving up the property ladder.

‘Until now, vendors have been so used to cash buyers and chain-free transactions that they haven’t even considered offers from purchasers who were not ready to move immediately,’ says Robin Thomas of Strutt & Parker’s Exeter office. ‘But things have changed. Sellers have realised that the perfect cash buyer just isn’t out there any more, and they are now happy to consider offers from people who can commit to a price but who are not able to proceed straight away, either because they are in a chain or have yet to put in place their finance.’

This is particularly good news for local purchasers. For the past eight or so years, London buyers have dictated the state of the market. Londoners, typically from Fulham, Wandsworth and Battersea, could afford to pay top dollar for commutable properties without selling their London home first, by using a City bonus or taking out a bridging loan supported by the soaring value of their property. The market was fast-moving and anyone who was not ready to roll did not stand a chance – usually local buyers.

How times have changed. Now the London market is all but stagnant and banks have long since stopped offering 120 per cent loans. ‘Over the last 12 months, the steady stream of cash-soaked buyers has run dry and sellers have become more realistic,’ says Charlie Willis of Strutt & Parker. ‘They are finding that it’s safer to go with a genuine local buyer in a chain than to hold out for a cash buyer who probably doesn’t exist.’

So now is the time for local buyers to start house-hunting. Not only will they be in with a chance, but with the expectation of guide-price-busting premiums gone, a new home won’t be as expensive as it once seemed. And with August traditionally a slow month, many other buyers are on holiday: the canny local could get an offer in while the competition is still on the beach.

‘The situation is challenging for agents,’ says Charlie. ‘We have to open our clients’ eyes to buyers who a year ago they would not even have considered and help them to see that speed is no longer of the essence. We have to maintain chains – something that many of us haven’t had to worry about for years – and keep all lines of communication open.’

Then there’s the maths. Some sellers might be so disappointed in the fall in their home’s value that they haven’t noticed that the house they want will have fallen commensurately.

‘With prices falling by the same percentage across the local market, it makes better financial sense to be moving up the ladder,’ Charlie says. ‘For example, if local prices were to fall by ten per cent, someone looking to upgrade from a £500,000 property to one worth £1 million will lose £50,000 off the value of his house but benefit from the £100,000 drop in the value of his prospective purchase.

‘Locals buyers should realise that their time has come, with transactions in a much more sensible market proceeding as they did ten or 20 years ago.

‘And vendors should realise that a chain is nothing to be scared of. It’s a solid, sensible market now, and I believe that values will shortly level out and remain steady for two or three years. There is no knife-edge uncertainty any more, so there’s no need to rush things.’