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Property prices up again
19/01/2006 16:49:00
The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) has announced that house prices rose for the second month in a row during December.
The group's housing market survey found that eight per cent more surveyors had reported a rise in average house prices rather than a fall, compared to four per cent reporting a rise in November. Only the Midlands and east Anglia saw falls in prices.
In addition, Rics commented that buyer activity and property sales had both increased, with the three months to December seeing the largest number of completed sales since 2003.
"The housing market is definitely seeing signs of a recovery. We expect the positive activity at the end of last year to continue over the coming months," said Rics spokesman Jeremy Leaf.
"Home buying and selling is being supported by a healthy job market and business climate, which looks set to continue for now though one potential obstacle to growth could be a shortage of available properties to meet growing demand."
"First time buyers are in an increasingly difficult position as property prices at their end of the market grow at a disproportionate rate, partially due to continued competition from buy-to-let investors."
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