Estate agents and letting agents say more people are viewing properties but completing sales is still tough
The number of new instructions from sellers also showed an increase during April, says the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).
But RICS remarked that even if buyers put in an offer, a mortgage squeeze by lenders is not leading to many completions.
No-mortgage sales are keeping the market alive as around one in 10 estate agents (8%) confirmed agreed sales showed a slight increase thanks to these cash rich purchasers.
The RICs report for April also revealed estate agents completed just over 15 sales, the highest level since December.
Despite 21% more estate agents reporting higher prices, expectations are that prices will fall or at least remain sluggish for the next three months. Estate agents also expect sales to drop in the next quarter.
RICS housing spokesperson, Michael Newey, said: “The return of sellers to the market is positive, but activity still remains subdued and it is difficult to see it picking up materially over the coming months.
“Although there are signs that some lenders may be reducing their grip on the purse strings, in particular with mortgages aimed at first time buyers, there is still a long way to go before lending levels increase enough to have any real impact.
“Economic uncertainty may also continue to weigh on sentiment for a while to come.”
One of the UK’s largest surveyors, Connells, reports carrying out 24% home valuations in April 2011 than a year ago.
Buy to let valuations were up year-on-year by 43%, but this is a 11% decrease from March.
Although the April total was the best for four years, the total number of valuations was 14% down on March – although Connells pointed out March had five more working days than April.
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