Estate agents selling more homes

Monday, 18 May 2009 9:50 AM

Estate agents sold more homes in April than in any other month since October 2007.

The figures released today from the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) revealed the average estate agent sold ten properties in April.

This was up from just eight properties sold per estate agent in March, and doubling from the low point of five per estate agent seen in August 2008.

Figures also out from Globrix today highlight a possible reason for the increase in sales, as they found more sellers were returning to the market, with 100,000 new properties advertised in April.

Chief executive of the NAEA, Peter Bolton King, said: "What we are beginning to see now are consistent positive indicators that have held firm or improved since the beginning of the year.

"Six months ago people were talking about how British people's attitude to owning property had changed in the recession.

"The NAEA always said that this was nonsense, and that demand for property remained strong, but confidence in the market had gone.

"These figures show that this confidence is returning."

Globrix found Leamington Spa and Warwick were at the top of the list for the greatest percentage increase of new properties on the market from March to April, with Bristol and Birmingham also making the top 20. The property search engine put the increased numbers of sellers down to improved buyer interest in the housing market.

Daniel Lee, chief executive of Globrix, said: "It would be foolhardy to start believing we're at the bottom of the property slump simply because buyers and sellers are returning to the market. There are still likely to be rough waters ahead given the turbulent economic climate, particularly if interest rates start to rise rapidly.

"There is no doubt that this increase in buyer activity has had a knock-on effect with sellers, many of whom had taken their properties off the market in the past six months because they were resigned to the fact that there was little hope of finding a buyer. Now that sellers believe the buyers are out there, they are returning in their droves."

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