UK property market stable insists NAEA

  • Story by: Sharon Flaherty
  • Magazine: FTAdviser
  • Published Tuesday , May 27, 2008

The UK property market remained stable in April, but continued to be jeopardised by the dent in consumer confidence, the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) reported today.

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For the month of April, its members reported stability in the number of sales agreed, the number of viewings before a sale and the difference between the asking and sales price.

Chris Brown, president of NAEA, said: "Property supply is good but buyers are being cautious. Some people are watching the market before making any decisions. Some agents are also finding it difficult to stop sales falling through as people get cold feet or fail to secure mortgages."

“However, what we need to remember is that we are not seeing massive price drops."

Earlier in the month the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) predicted that house prices would fall 40 per cent this year. (See story.)

The NAEA said that the number of house hunters on agents books dropped in April to an average of 237 compared with 249 in March.

NAEA members also reported an average of seven sales during April, however, the association maintained that this figure had not dropped on the previous month and on the whole remained consistent this year.

Agents also reported a notable drop in interest from first time buyers to 7.7 per cent in April from 8.3 per cent in March.