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Consumer confidence puts housing market back on track

21st February 2006 | back to article listings BACK    print this article PRINT

The UK's housing market looks set to see some positive movement over the months ahead, following some promising indications from consumers.

According to National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA), confidence in the housing market among consumers is soaring, with more properties on agents' books being counterbalanced by the number of sales being made. In its latest report on the state of the housing market, the NAEA has given a much more positive outlook for agents across the UK than at any time during 2005, when the slowdown in prices hit the sector hard.

This increase in confidence could in part be down to the hard work of those within the property market, with agents particularly active in trying to improve relations with a traditionally sceptical public. It seems that the traditional image of estate agents has been somewhat thrown off by the NAEA through its efforts to provide a more open relationship with its customers.

President of the NAEA, Christopher Hall, commented: "Confidence is key to a buoyant market – we are delighted to see more buyers month on month committing to a purchase and feel the new year has inspired increasing levels of confidence."

And it appears that this has had an important effect on the buy-to-let sector as well, because landlords and prospective landlords are now more willing to enter into the market, suggesting that estate agents have done much to secure trust between themselves and landlords.

The NAEA figures reveal that sales agreed rose by 20 per cent in January, rolling back the months by taking the statistics back to the levels seen in the same month a year ago. That highlights the stagnation in the market over 2005, but with demand in the property market once again being sparked, it appears that the buy-to-let market is set to prosper.

Recent figures have shown that the UK's buy-to-let sector is experiencing strong growth and is expected to continue to do well throughout 2006.

The results of the NAEA survey found that the number of house buyers on agents' books increased during January for the first time in five months, while the availability of property is also up. That second fact is of particular relevance to buy-to-let investors as it provides them with an opportunity to increase their property portfolio ahead of any further increases in prices as a result of demand from buyers.

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