15
Feb
'New momentum' in housing market
Improved confidence is being seen in the British housing market,
according to new figures published by the National Association of
Estate Agents (NAEA).
The body said that in January, there was an 11 per cent rise in
home buyers from the previous month, while sales per agent
increased from five to eight.
And the proportion of first-time buyers also grew, it noted, to
make up 14.5 per cent of sales, a year-on-year hike of three per
cent.
Peter Bolton King, chief executive at the NAEA, claimed that the
recent trimming of the base rate of interest by the Bank of England
has had a positive impact.
"I am confident that we have just started to see the benefit of
first interest rate cut in December and the latest quarter percent
decrease in February will further help boost the confidence of all
buyers and particularly first-time buyers," he commented.
He added that buyers should attempt to ignore the deluge of
negative stories being generated in the press about the housing
sector.
Recently, HotProperty.co.uk also claimed that the recent gloomy
outlook is not a reality, as it witnessed strong activity in terms
of people looking for homes in January.