Surveyors hope for increase in property sales
March 24, 2009
A survey from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors has recently suggested that over the coming months there could be an increase in the level of property sales in the UK.
Officials from RICS have said that because of the lower house prices, and predictions of further falls in property prices, an increasing number of people were showing interest in the property market, and this was particularly true of those that already owned a flat or a house.
However, the institute did add that by and large this did not apply to first time buyers, as many were still finding that they were unable to consider getting onto the property ladder because of the slim prospect of being able to get an affordable mortgage without having a large deposit to put down.
The government’s house price survey showed a 10 percent fall in property prices over the course of last year, with figures from the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) showing that the average house price had fallen by over £22,000 over the course of the year.
One official from RICS said that the renewed interest in the housing market was expected to continue, and could translate into increased sales over the coming months. He said: “Interest from owner-occupiers is likely to persist over the comings months as those with large deposits look to capitalise on the drop in house prices.”
He added: “Our suspicion is that this improvement in activity levels is likely to be sustained over the coming months; mortgage approvals could climb above 35,000 [per month] on the back of the higher level of buyer interest. However, this would still be well down on the high for the cycle as well as being significantly below the long run average. By no means could this relatively small pick-up in transactions be seen as representing a move back to a more orderly housing market.”
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Prices may be falling, but they’re still quite high by historical standards and getting hold of a mortgage is next to impossible for the average first time buyer. House prices need to fall a long way and the mortgage market needs to unfreeze itself a little more before the volume of property sales will start to increase in any meaningful way.