POTENTIAL buyers are continuing to return to the property market following steep house price falls and successive interest rate cuts, research has shown.
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said buyer inquiries rose for the third month in a row during January, with 16% more surveyors reporting an increase in interest than those who saw a fall.
The return of house hunters boosted surveyors’ optimism about future sales, with 10% more surveyors expecting transactions to pick up in the coming months, than those who thought they would fall.
The number of sales agreed during the three months to the end of January also stabilised, with the average chartered survey estate agent arranging 9.9 sales, down only fractionally from an average of 10 during the previous three month period, although the figure was still the lowest level on record.
RICS spokesperson Jeremy Leaf said: “The latest survey provides further evidence of the eagerness of buyers to try and pick up bargains.
“This interest has yet to translate into sales but transactions may pick up in the coming months if the Government follows through on its recent announcement and introduces guarantees for the issuance of residential mortgage backed securities.
“The latest cut in interest rates may improve confidence for those on the margins, encouraging buyers looking for more attractive finance deals.”
But surveyors remain gloomy about the prospects for prices in the short term, with 76.3% more surveyors reporting price falls during January than those who saw rises, up from 73.9% more in December.
