English antique furniture might not seem cheap, but a British survey says prices have been falling. The survey says that UK prices, on average, dropped 3 per cent during the 12 months to December, having fallen 2 per cent in 2002.

This sounds like good news for Australian buyers, since it implies dealers will be paying lower prices at source for their mid-range stock and we'll be paying less at a retail level.

A careful examination of the figures shows it's not quite that simple. The price fall has been pronounced for some types of furniture, particularly Victorian mahogany, which are less sought after. Some other types of furniture - such as oak and so-called "country" furniture - have raced ahead, reflecting increased demand. Changes in demand are driven by trends in fashion and interior decor, which are often international.

And antique dealers have to stay one step ahead. Woollahra dealer Ian Auchinachie, a former president of the Australian Antique Dealers Association's NSW chapter, says the shift reflects lifestyle changes - the move to open-plan architecture, light and bright spaces and low-maintenance interiors.

"I guess we haven't been quick enough to pick it up," he says. Certainly, he says, with demand waning there wouldn't be much point in stocking up on average-quality mahogany furniture, despite the benefit of lower prices and the stronger Aussie dollar.

It's worth noting that some items on the local market today were purchased a couple of years ago at higher prices (and using a weaker Aussie dollar, too). With price tags out of line with today's UK market, some dealers are marking down prices to stay competitive.

Auchinachie says early oak and country style furniture - notably rush-seat or "vernacular" chairs and gateleg tables - fit in well with the "farmhouse" look of a combined kitchen and family room that is a feature of many homes nowadays. Also in style, of course, are slightly rustic yet elegant chairs known as "country Chippendale" - usually made in the English provinces - fruitwood or elm "case" furniture (sideboards, chests, bureaus and the like), Windsor chairs and oak dressers, coffers and gateleg tables.

As Auchinachie sees it, there's been a decline in interest in mid-range traditional antique furniture. "I don't see a resurgence of interest in this, as a younger market is going for a lighter look," he says.

In addition, he says, there are few "collectors" of furniture today. "It's expensive to set up a collection now."

As well as a shift in style, he sees the change as reflecting the sharp decline of the sharemarket from early 2002 and losses in super. Despite the markets' revival, prices for many stocks are still behind their peaks of a few years ago.

"The way I see it is a lot of people bought things with money they made in the sharemarket, and we are at the end of the food chain for discretionary dollars."

People will still want high quality "centrepiece" items, he says, but most people are unlikely to fill a room, even less a whole house, with traditional antiques.

He sees the future as being select pieces that make a statement or are utilitarian, and antiques that complement or provide a contrast in contemporary interiors.

The latest UK price decline shows up on the index compiled by Britain's Antique Collectors Club, based on assessed prices for 1000 pieces of relatively run-of-the-mill furniture published in the ACC book, British Antique Furniture.

The figures have been drawn up and collated since 1968.

The data base for the index draws on good quality pieces divided into categories including oak, walnut, early mahogany, late mahogany, Regency, early Victorian and "country". Each category forms an equal part of the index.

When we last looked at the index it had chalked up annual growth of 13 per cent for 2000, well ahead of the rise of the benchmark index of house prices in south-east England. It then appreciated a further 7 per cent in 2001 before declining.

At that time, early Victorian and Regency furniture had shown the fastest appreciation since the index began. Since 2002, however, prices for both these categories have eased while oak and country furniture have shown strong price growth. Over the past five years, oak prices have risen 36 per cent and the country category 23 per cent, the survey shows.

My collection Neil Keene
Walking along High Street, Armadale, Melbourne's antiques heartland, Neil Keene noticed "a wonderful piece of furniture" - an antique oak dresser - in a shop window. In 1971, fresh out of teacher's college, his salary of $62 a week clearly wouldn't stretch far enough for a $2500 dresser, so he had to pass it by.

His next close encounter with oak came in 1978 on one of his regular visits to his home town, Perth, when an antique dealer told him about a tourism complex titled Elizabethan Village, complete with a re-creation of Anne Hathaway's Cottage, the childhood home of Shakespeare's wife in Stratford-upon-Avon.

It was the brainchild of a retired British engineer, the late Leo Fowler, whose vision included bringing artisans out from the UK to produce authentic timber framing. Naturally, the interiors had to be Shakespearian-era, which meant Tudor and Jacobean oak.

Keene got to know Fowler and had the chance to study and photograph the furniture. "It was a terrific learning experience and Leo had some very classy gear," he says. He later purchased a few items when Fowler was sick and put the complex on the market.

So he was already a convert when he spent 12 months in Britain in 1984, renting a stone cottage near Bakewell, Derbyshire and immersing himself in the region's historic homes and antique shops. He filled the house with oak furniture - enough to fill a container, he says. Keene recalls the time with great enthusiasm. "I like oak, I like the rural setting, I like the English countryside and the villages."

Was it a good time to buy? "People say it's never a good time, it's always too dear," he says. Oak prices have ups and downs. "But I think it's a bit like real estate - over time it'll do very well." Keene should know - he's been in the real estate business for many years.

He visited England again in the 1990s but also makes substantial purchases locally. "If you know what you're looking for you can pick up pieces a lot cheaper than in the UK," he says.

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