House sales increase 40% in March 2009
Considering how tough 2008 has been for the housing market you might have to do a double take on the latest figures from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) which revealed a staggering rise of 40% in the number of homes that were sold in March compared with February. According to HMRC, over 60,000 were sold during the month compared to February’s 43,000. It has also been reported that new buyer enquiries are growing at their fastest rate since September 2003.
This Spring peak of buyer interest has kick started the sales market as estate agents report transaction levels considerably up says UK portal propertyfinder.com. Agents are also generally confident that transactions will continue their upward path with levels expected to increase a further 9% early in the third quarter of the year. Reveals propertyfinder.com’s latest index of estate agency confidence.
Back at the beginning of January agents were only expecting transaction numbers to increase by 4% in the first quarter so to see that have increased at three times the rate expected is great news for the industry, says Nicholas Leeming, the major clients director at propertyfinder.com. With expectations of a further nine per cent increase in transactions over the next quarter, agents are confident that home seekers are beginning to come back to the market.
Estate agents’ confidence is supported by the fact that buyer demand is on the increase at all levels of the market. Last quarter, agents had only seen increased demand at the bottom end of the market and just suggesting an influx of first time buyers. 86% of agents agree that so far in the second quarter of the year they have seen increased demand at the bottom end, some agents are also reporting an increase in the middle and top end of the markets.
Jonathan Waters, Managing Director of Ipswich estate agency Jonathan Waters Estate Agents Ltd confirmed his company’s experiences are backing up this general trend.
We noticed it very strongly in April where demand for larger 3 and 4 bedroom detached houses increased considerably, and a number of properties on our books of that type have now been sold, subject to contract.
There was a time during 2008 where demand for any larger property had practically disappeared completely.
83% of agents had seen an increase in demand for mid-market property and 57% have seen an increase in demand for the top end of the market, according to propertyfinder.com.
It is also noted that appropriately priced property is definitely now spending less time on the market with newly marketed properties currently taking an average of 5 weeks to attract an offer, which is down from the 7 weeks which was quoted in January 2009.
Jonathan did add a hint of caution however. “It is very encouraging to see that transaction numbers are forecast to increase and buyer demand is on the up. What we have to remember, however, is this is still a comparatively tough market out there and the need for properties to be placed onto the market at competitive prices is paramount.”
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