September proved to be a reassuring and important month for the housing market as it showed that the first indicators of recovery were strong enough to survive the seasonal decline in activity that July and August traditionally brings, said trade body, the National Association of Estate Agents.
The number of average sales agreed per branch began to rise again, as did the number of people registering to buy a property - which increased dramatically from 238 to 294. This demonstrates that the fall in demand in August had more to do with summer holidays than a blip in the housing market, it said.
The number of first time buyers remains at a reasonable level, while the level of housing stock available remains low. This is likely to reflect the fact that, while the recovery and stamp duty holiday has provided effective stimulus to first time buyers, the corresponding increase in homes for sale has yet to work its way through.
The number of house hunters registered per branch increased from 238 in August to 294 in September many of whom will be selling their own homes, according to NAEA figures.
The dramatic increase in house hunters demonstrates the housing market's cyclical nature. The market has bounced back strongly from the dip in August - a time when traditionally less people look to buy property. The figure of 294 house hunters appears to show evidence of the beginnings of market recovery over the last 12 months, when compared to the number of 211 house hunters for the same month in 2008.
The reasonable September figures demonstrate that the UK housing market has been able to rebound from the summer dip without the slow process of recovery being knocked off course, the trade body added.
Average number of properties available for sale per branch fell from 64 in August to 62 in September.
The level of housing stock available has now held relatively firm since June, albeit at a lower level than normal. This could reflect the fact that increased numbers of buyers are still working their way through the system and have not yet become sellers in their own right, said the estate agency body.
However, the percentage of first time buyers (FTBs) fell from 36 per cent in August to 26 per cent in September. The NAEA said the government needs to consider extending the Stamp Duty holiday threshold at GBP 175,000 from GBP 125,000 as it has with the car scrappage scheme.
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