The number of housing transactions increased in the Northamptonshire property market during January, a new survey has found
The latest survey carried out by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) released today has found a five per cent increase in the number of newly agreed house sales in the East Midlands region, which includes Northamptonshire.
At the same time, prices in the East Midlands remained broadly stable during the first month of the year, with 12 per cent more respondents stating that prices fell rather than rose making these the strongest figures since June 2010.
Simon Bond, owner of Northampton-based estate agent O’Riordan Bond, said he thought the market was stating to recover following the recession.
Mr Bond said house sales in his branches were up by between 10 and 20 per cent and the last week of Janauary was the best for three to four years.
He said: “I think when you have a recession the house market goes through three or four phases were sales drop, prices drop and then it starts to bounce back and I think we are in the middle of that third phase now.
“The Bank of England’s first-time buyer lending scheme is starting to gain some traction and there are a few more incentives back to encourage people to get mortgages.”
Richard Greener, owner of Richard Greener estate agents in Northampton, said he had found the last week of January to be particularly good for house sales.
He said: “We have seen the first-time buyer return to the marketplace as the banks and building societies are starting to compete for business again.
“It is encouraging but it is too early to predict if it is likely to lead to an increase in house prices.”
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