The latest report from RICS shows the number of new buyer enquiries growing at the fastest pace since records began 10 years ago.
The strongest increases were in London & the North, followed by the East & West Midlands.
This increase in buyer enquiries comes as the number of properties for sale falls, being 32% lower than a year ago, meaning that with a shortage of available properties, prices are likely to rise.
Despite buyer enquiries, transactions are still held back by lack of available mortgage funding.
House Price Fall Slow
According to the Halifax , house prices fell by just 0.5% in June. In the 3 months to the end of June, house prices fell by 1.9%, the lowest quarterly fall in the first quarter of 2008. The Halifax claims that this provides evidence of confidence returning to the housing market and that the underlying rate of house price falls is easing.
The fall in June meant the annual rate of decline was 15%, down from 16.3% in May.
The Halifax figures contrast with Nationwide, which showed prices rising by 0.9% in June, the third increase in 4 months.
Record Mortgage Repayments
Mortgage holders repaid a record amount of their mortgages in the first quarter of 2009. The total in the first three months was 8.1bn, taking repayments to 76bn for the year to end of March 09.
The credit crunch and low savings rates are obviously encouranging people to start paying down their mortgages. It also reflected the larger deposits required by lenders for mortgages.
Mortgage Approvals up Slightly in May
Mortgage approvals were up in May, for the fourth month in a row. There were 43,414 approvals in the month - however, this was up just 223 on April. Net lending for house buying by lenders grew by just 324m in May, the smallest increase on record.
In comparison to last May, lending is 35% lower. The market appears to have recovered from its slump, but activity still remains depressed compared with last year.
Building societies are also reporting that savers are wtihdrawing more money than they are depositing funds, for the thrid month in a row, which may limit how much banks and building societies can lend.
House Buyer Interest Rising
According to estate agents, the number of house buyers registering their interest is increasing, with an average of 299 potential buyers registered per agent in May, up from 265 in April. This is the highest level since Sept 2007 and up from the low in Nov 08 of 186.
With the shortage in supply of houses, this suggest that there is potentially 4 buyers per house available.
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