Does Balham's diversity influence the local housing market?

Balham's not short of Estate Agents.  Some old.  Some new.  But on that part of the High Road, inbetween Balham Grove and Balham Hill, there's not much else squeezed amongst the likes of Foxtons, KFH, Morgan Randall and Aspire.  Smaller frontages, like Bushells, Haart, Jacksons and Laurisons seem to cower at the smart ostentatious shop windows of their cousins and luckily for Andrews, its humbly tucked away on its own on Station Approach.

So I would surmise that the housing market in Balham must be doing OK to support such grand shop fronts and well, if you go into any of those Agents and ask the direct question, you'll get the answer that yes, Balham is doing well.  Polly Jones, Assistant Manager for KFH both lives and works in Balham and tells me that all property is selling 'for the right price'.  She says that although some buyers are local, she has noticed customers coming down from North London looking to buy in Balham as its comparatively cheaper. 

Alistair at Haart felt that his customers are definitely mostly locals, enjoying the advantages of short chains that this current economic climate has fostered.

But if I were being honest, I felt  that neither of the agents that I spoke to looked relaxed and ebullient.  They spoke the right words but their eyes didn't match.  So I thought I'd ask a local property Surveyor, Robert Austin being totally independent with no ties to any lender or estate agency.  Here's what he had to say: "the residential market in Balham is generally strong with prices for houses and flats with external areas now in excess of peak levels of 8/2007. Flats without external areas are generally 5 - 10 % off peak levels. Prices remain around 10 -15% below Clapham although Balham is now much more than the second choice area it once was, reflected in relocation of chain coffee shops/ Pizza Express etc. 

So it seems the presence of chain shops could be determining how well our housing market is currently performing, but I know for me and many others the fact that Balham is most definitely not a Clone Town is it's defining glory.  Balham, according to the latest report by the New Economics Foundation, could be defined as a 'home town' showing its diversity through the many independents and  properties, like those in the conservation areas of Heaver and Hyde Farm Estates and the Nightingale Triangle.  It's good to remember that, with the possibility of harder times still dangling over us, chains are only fair weather friends.  In recessions they pack up and go and leave empty, unloved High Streets.  In Balham High Street that's clearly demonstrated by Marks and Spencer and Woolworths closure.  Paul Squires, co-author of the NEF report reminds us that for every £50 you spend in your local shops, if it's an independent, more of that £50 will stay in the local area but if the same £50 was spent in a chain, the majority of that goes to Head Office and to pay shareholders.

It would be good to know what actually attracted residents here.  People like Jenny who runs Balham Blooms have lived here for 25 years and has seen the area and her property price go from strength to strength.  Sainsburys, one of the chains I mention above, has actually been in Balham, on the same site, since 1898!  When the store closed recently for two weeks in July, other independents trade didn't increase - everyone flocked across the road to Waitrose instead.  Is it the quirky, diverse part of Balham that reflects on the house prices, or the recognised chains that will see us through any double dip in the housing market?