The National Association of Estate Agent’s market report for January suggests that despite some of the worst weather on record the number of houses sold by the average agent increased month on month.
The average agent sold six properties in January compared to five in December.
The number of people registering with estate agents to buy property also increased, from 251 in December to 291 in January. This also shows a 12-month improvement – the number of registered house hunters per agent in January 2009 was 242.
The percentage of sales made to first time buyers also increased from 19 per cent in December 2009 to 23 per cent last month.
President of the NAEA, Gary Smith, said: “The increased level of sales, which given the awful weather conditions is quite amazing.”
“More encouragingly, the very important first time buyer section of the market now makes up almost one in four purchases. This confirms their confidence in the market as well as their ability to obtain attractive mortgage deals.”
Paul Beresford, MD/Chairman of Beresfords, comments “These national statistics are very encouraging and clearly indicate that confidence is returning to the market. I am delighted to announce that our network of offices are reporting extremely busy times at the moment, with the number of potential purchasers registering up 156% and viewings up by 159% compared to December 2009.”