Drop in house prices 'spurs property market activity'
Friday, 14 October 2011 08:19House prices fell by 0.3 per cent in September to stand at around £218,650, latest figures indicate.
According to data from LSL Property Services, the value of an average home is 2.3 per cent lower than the year before.
But the property group – which owns Your Move and Reeds Rains – said that cheaper properties combined with affordable mortgages had served to boost buyer confidence, with transactions rising 9.5 per cent last month.
The group’s director David Newnes said: “It’s certainly not all doom and gloom for homeowners.
“Buyer activity is picking up as transactions have been much higher than we would normally expect at this time of the year.
“This is important because it shows the market is not on a course for terminal decline.”
That’s not to say the road to recovery is obstruction free, Mr Newnes added.
“Mortgage lenders’ willingness to lend at record low rates is based on expectations that the [Bank of England] will keep rates low for the foreseeable future and that the Eurozone crisis won’t become a disaster.
“While it’s probable these conditions will continue, it’s far from certain.”
