Buyer enquiries continue to rise but house sales at 31-year low

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by Kay Murchie

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ (Rics) have reported that buyer enquiries have risen for the fourth consecutive month as house prices continue to fall and attract potential buyers.

However, Rics said property sales in the UK in the three months to February remained at their lowest level since records began in 1978.

According to Rics, the average chartered surveyor estate agent had just 9.5 sales in the three month period, down from 9.8 in November and also another record low.

Jeremy Leaf of Rics said “Potential buyers continue to come through estate agency doors but without mortgage finance transaction levels are likely to remain close to all-time lows“.

Rics said that the Government needs to implement its pledge to provide guarantees for new residential mortgage-backed securities to kick-start the property market.

Further bad news for the property market comes from the National Housing Federation (NHF) who is forecasting that the number of new homes built in England during the next financial year could plummet by 50% to 70,000 - the lowest in 88-years (excluding the years of the war).

In related news, Conservative housing spokesman Grant Shapps said yesterday that the temporary suspension of Stamp Duty has failed to kick-start the housing market.

Back in September, the Government announced that properties costing less than £175,000 will be exempt from stamp duty for the 12 months.