The number of house sales agreed rose to a 10 year high in February, despite worries that Brexit uncertainty would negatively impact the housing market.
Sales agreed stood at 11 per branch, higher than both the eight sales per branch recorded in January and six sales recorded in December. The higher-than-expected figure indicates a growth in buyer confidence – the last time this figure surpassed 10 per branch was in September 2007.
According to the latest figures from the NAEA Propertymark’s February Housing Report, 74 percent of sales made were below the original asking price, “suggesting sellers are taking a pragmatic approach to their property transactions.”
However, despite several government initiatives to make it easier for First Time Buyers to get on the housing ladder, the proportion of sales agreed for FTBs dipped to 22 per cent in February, down from 30 per cent in January.
The number of properties available to buy on estate agents’ books also increased in February to 44, higher than January’s figure of just 38 available per branch.
Estate agents remained uncertain about the effect of the recent Housing White Paper, in which the government admitted that the UK housing market was ‘broken’.
However, two fifths of estate agents surveyed didn’t think the methods outlined in the White Paper would make a difference, whilst 39 per cent thought the proposals could positively impact the market, but can’t yet tell how.
Mark Hayward, Chief Executive, NAEA Propertymark said: “The number of sales agreed reaching a 10 year high indicates the housing market is moving in the right direction. However, FTBs need to be a priority – the number of sales made to the group dipped in February when it should be growing.
“As house prices continue to rise, the market’s most vulnerable buyers are being priced out and the only way to address this is to increase housing stock. The Government have pledged yet again to build more homes, but our members aren’t feeling optimistic about the plans. If promises are kept and we see construction sites set up across the UK, we’ll be in a better position in a few years than the stark reality we will be facing if this doesn’t happen.”