Property sales stabilising

25/05/2011

Property Sales Stabilising - Report

Chris Gibbings

Sales of property looked like stabilising last month with estate agents selling eight properties per branch on average, the same as in February and in March.

But the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA), which issued the figures, also said transactions were still well down on normal levels.

Members said there was a flurry of activity in early April during the run-up to Easter, with the extended bank holiday periods seeing a drop-off in interest.

Estate agents were also in more bullish moods than during previous months, with many reporting a pick-up in the market and a good month for sales despite the disruption caused by the bank holidays.

But transaction volumes still remain well down on pre-credit crunch levels when they reached a peak of 14 per month in early 2007.

There was a slight increase in the number of people putting their home on the market during April, with estate agents having an average of 69 properties on their books, up from 68 in March and considerably higher than the 62 they were trying to sell in April last year.