Both good and bad news for the property and mortgage market is contained in the latest survey from UK estate agents.
The UK property market is beginning to stabilise, the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) has reported in its new monthly survey.
According to the body, property supply in the UK remains strong and house price drops are still small: however, the NAEA also said that consumer confidence in the housing market has been "dented".
This is due in part to the ongoing credit crunch, which has seen many mortgage firms tightening-up their lending criteria and removing mortgage products from the market, limiting consumer home loans choices and exerting downwards pressure on the property sector as a whole.
In the new NAEA survey of agents, the number of properties on sale from each agency was found to have increased, from an average of 76 in March to 84 in April. Each outlet is also reporting an average of seven home sales per month, consistent with March's figure. Elsewhere, the average number of viewings before a property was purchased (14) also remained stable.
However, there was less good news with home prices: the difference between asking and sales price remains at almost five per cent, meaning that many estate agents are finding that they have to discount properties before they can sell them.
NAEA president Chris Brown commented: "It is apparent from the survey results that some people are adopting a ‘wait and see attitude', watching the market, before making any decisions.
"Many, especially first time buyers, will be feeling the results of the credit crunch and tighter lending leading to them being unable to move onto the ladder or up the chain. Some agents are also finding it difficult to stop sales falling through as people get ‘cold feet' or fail to secure mortgages but we must remember that this happens in the best of markets."
