Its latest reports says there was a sharp rise in the number of property enquiries, up from 268 in February to 290 in March as an average per branch, its highest level in eight months.
The number of houses available for sale decreased slightly from 70 per branch in February to 68 in March while the number of sales remained the same with eight per branch on average.
The percentage of sales made to first time buyers decreased slightly, moving from 25% of the market share to 23%, however, this figure is still in line with the year on year average, it said.
‘We are very pleased to see that the market has remained relatively stable despite the continued economic pressures that are making life very difficult for homeowners and those looking to enter the property market,’ said NAEA president Michael Jones.
‘The significant growth in demand for homes reported by our agents suggests that house hunters are searching for a good deal on property before the traditional spike in activity over the Easter holidays,’ he explained.
‘That said, the picture is still very varied across the country and significant economic barriers remain. Although the Chancellor's Budget last month did grant some concessions to First Time Buyers, it didn't go far enough to assist the wider property market. Rather than new build projects to help people onto the housing ladder, the government should instead be looking at ways to maximise mortgage availability,’ he added.
But the optimism flies in the face of a report earlier this week that said there are more sellers than buyers. More people in the UK are putting their properties on the market but in most cases, with London being the exception, there are not enough buyers, the report from Rightmove said.
The increased seller numbers has resulted in the biggest monthly jump in agents’ unsold stock since May 2007, up from 70 to 74 properties per branch, the report also showed.
‘This is a clear indication that the number of properties available to buy is not being matched by the number of buyers able to proceed. With buyers still struggling to raise the necessary finance, the net result has been the biggest jump in unsold stock on agents’ books that we have recorded in nearly four years,’ said Miles Shipside, director of Rightmove.
