March 2008

Year off to promising start: NAEA

Increase in first-time buyer numbers for fourth month running, claims new survey

FIRST-TIME buyers are making their presence felt as the housing market has enjoyed an encouraging start to 2008, according to figures from the National Association of Estate Agents.

January saw first time buyers increase their market share for the fourth month running, with a rise from 13 per cent in December to 14.5 per cent in the opening month of this year.

The NAEA say that is the highest figure recorded for first timers since October 2006, when a market share of 16.4 per cent was reported by NAEA agents.

The Association say that the decrease in interest rates and drop in property prices in some areas have acted as a good platform for many individuals who may have struggled otherwise to gain a grasp on the first rung of the property ladder.

Stock levels are also on the rise, as NAEA members across the country reported an average of 83 properties for sale in January compared with 76 in December while the number of house buyers on estate agents’ books encouragingly increased from an average of 248 registered per agent in December to 276 in January.

The January figure was still not as high as previous figures reported at the equivalent time of the year, but, according to the NAEA, it does reflect that the property market is gaining momentum after what has been a shaky end to the previous year.

The number of sales per agent increased with on average eightsales reported per agent compared with five in December 2007. That figure is down on the same time last year, when 13 sales per agent were recorded.

Sales figures have been slowly falling since August 2007 and this is the first rise in four months.

The percentage of sales agreed that fell through remained steady between December to January, with figures 9.52 per cent and 9.86 per cent reported respectively.

The NAEA point out that this is also reflected in the time taken to sell a property with an average of 21 weeks reported in January, the same as the previous month.

The difference between asking price and selling price also remained stable at 4.4 per cent, up from the equivalent time last year when 2.9 per cent was noted in January 2007.

NAEA president Stewart Lilly said: “It is very encouraging to see the year start optimistically as buyers and sellers make a welcome return back to the market.

“The past couple of interest rate cuts have seemed to have an effect on boosting consumer confidence and the market has started to stabilise and see a renewed sense of optimism set in.

“What’s more, first time buyers have increased their share once again, indicating better times ahead for this sector of the market.

“We hope this positive trend will continue throughout the year and would hope to see a few more interest rate cuts to help boost consumer confidence, helping to strengthen the market further.

“However, we should note that the figures are still not what they should be for this time of the year and although the first month of 2008 was encouraging, agents are still experiencing regional differences.”