The latest figures from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors have shown that property sales are still low - but there is some cause for optimism.
House sales figures have continued to fall in the UK, according to a new report from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics).
The average number of transactions per agency, taken over December, January and February, was just 9.5. This represents a fall of 0.3 from November's figure and is the lowest that Rics has recorded since it began its housing market survey in 1978.
A lack of mortgage availability, along with the wider problems in the economy, was blamed for the lack of activity. Rics spokesman Jeremy Leaf called on the government to "provide guarantees for the new issuance of residential mortgage-backed securities to help first-time buyers in particular and give the market much needed impetus".
However, some chartered surveyors had a more optimistic outlook for the future. The report revealed that 11 percent more respondents felt that the next three months will see a rise in sales than in January.
This was fuelled by a rise in buyer interest, which had increased for the fourth consecutive month. Mr Leaf said that the government must be quick to implement the mortgage-backed securities policy to take advantage of this attraction to the market among potential homeowners.
"Without further intervention the housing market will continue to stagnate and the opportunity to take advantage of this renewed interest could be lost which will inevitably have serious implications for the wider economy," he said.
