A daffodil crushed by snow is one image that might symbolise this Easter's property market. Just a few weeks ago, agents were announcing the first gentle shoots of confidence after a few distinctly gloomy months. Frustrated would-be buyers had grown tired of worrying and waiting and were emerging to scout tentatively for opportunities. Among them, whisper it, some rare first-time buyers were spotted.

The unusually early Easter, it was felt, might kick-start the market. But with a rainstorm of dark news from the United States last week, just as the true extent of home-loan shortfalls here was made clear, those hopes were quickly deflated. A sprinkling of Arctic weather only added to agents' woes. Those who had braced themselves for a busy Easter are now predicting that more buyers will emerge in the weeks to come, and it is true that Easter is usually the opening weekend of the spring festival, not the whole show. But just a year ago, it would have been unthinkable that a single sour spell of weather could put off the many hyped-up buyers.

In this nervous, slow-moving market - which may feel new, but is actually traditional - little things can cause havoc with a homeowner's ambitions. Sellers must now forget the all-too-recent days when buyers would trawl property websites in the wee hours, embark on a series of wild sealed bids or even brave winter windstorms. They are acting differently now.

With reports emerging of buyers latching on to the slightest flaws to negotiate a bargain, sellers are well advised to leave no chore undone if they want to sell. In the year - or years - to come, the picturesque uncrushed daffodils in your (unsludgy) garden will be an essential part of the magical conditions that will secure a timely sale of your home.

No one is suffering as much as first-time buyers

Lenders are getting more picky, yet property prices are refusing to fall far enough, fast enough

THE FIRST SIGN OF SPRING?

Observing the emergence, the sudden disappearance, then - hold on - re-emergence of first-time buyers can feel like tracking an obscure form of wildlife. Whispers of bargains brought the braver of the breed out late last year, only for them to retreat swiftly as borrowing got vastly pricier this year. Early sightings were reported in Wales, but then the remains of the flock moved to North Yorkshire and Bristol and, more recently, London and East Sussex.

One breed of buyer less likely to take fright is the “supercommuter”. These buyers, who include young families bursting at the seams of city flats are boosting regional markets by moving ever farther from work to find affordable family homes. With their eye on timeless fundamentals, such as good schools and access to transport, they can prove refreshingly willing to commit. They agree with the agent who said this week: “The prices of family homes don't move, except to go up.”

The number crunchers at Savills have highlighted pockets where a cash-strapped supercommuter might still expect to snap up a home for - this is the common measure of value - the price of that apartment in the inner city. Those with a job in London and a 45-minutes time limit for travel can get a semi-detached home in Milton Keynes or Rochester for less than £375,000. Those with 90 minutes could spend just £260,000 in Grantham, Southampton or Hastings.

But relocators should move quickly. In another recent change, a modest London apartment now appears at risk of leeching value faster than the flawless family homes in the country to which supercommuters aspire. Prime Central London continues to fare well, but elsewhere - from Enfield to Kingston-upon-Thames - conditions are taking their toll. Now, as Paul Jarman, head of Home Counties sales for Savills, said this week: “The farther out from London you go, the better the market gets.”

LOCATION, LOCATION, WEIRD LOCATION

That quest for a picturesque patch to call one's own has taken many people to odd places - grown men and women have chosen to move to Val D'Europe, a kind of Europe-lite built by Disney near Paris. Think a New Town with a bit of Lucca here, a touch of Dublin there and a dash of Regent's Park.

But you might be able to find bit of (not very Disney) paradise closer to home. The property website FindaProperty points out that in underrated corners of our large cities - such as Nunhead, Tower Hamlets and West Norwood in London - local cemeteries (more commonly seen as a morbid blight on values) boost prices because of the the unexpected amenity of vast, well-kept open spaces - even if they're the kind you'd not want to linger in for a picnic.

FindaProperty polled buyers and found 58 per cent would be willing to live next door to a cemetery, though 76 per cent suspect a cemetery next door would make a home more difficult to sell. Buyers unwilling to live by a graveyard might want to rethink their prejudices. Until they do, sellers in this difficult market would be wiser not to advertise the cemetery near by.

Explore Property

• Buying & Selling

• Investment

• New Homes

• Overseas

• Interiors

• Gardens

• Cool In Your Code

• Specials

Times recommends

• Analysis: frustration for everyone - except investors
• Spanish property: why it's crunch time on the Costa del Sol
• Buy-to-let: professional investors cash in on the credit crunch