Real Estate Sales in the UK Reach Four Year High

Sales of homes in the UK reached the highest levels in almost 4 years in September as the property market continues to recover. These figures are from the latest market report released by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

The report shows each chartered surveyor sold an average of 18.7 properties in the three months to September. Although these figures look pretty good, and are the highest since November 2009, they are still historically low but do show how the housing recovery is picking up pace. Prices are also increasing, with 54% of respondents now reporting price rises rather than price falls. Property prices right across the UK have been on the increase since Easter, and in September prices increased in every part of the country other than the North East. In the North East prices declined slightly for the second month in a row.

The article in Propertywire points out that the market has been helped by various factors such as the governments Help to Buy scheme which has allowed more buyers to enter the market. As a result buyer demand has increased steadily, and in September of 49% of surveyors reported increases in new buyer inquiries. Even though inventory levels are rising, they are not sufficient to keep pace with demand.

Surveyors are also optimistic about future growth, and 56% expect the number of sales to increase over the next quarter, while another 48% are predicting that prices will continue to rise. One of the major concerns at the moment is that insufficient properties are coming onto the market, and this could create an imbalance between supply and demand, pushing up prices in popular areas.

Real estate agents in the UK have found these latest figures encouraging, and point out that the real estate market needs sales levels to recover as without an increasing number of transactions in the property market could grind to a halt. It finally looks as if the property market will continue to recover during the coming months.