House demand in North East highest in UK
INTEREST from would-be house buyers rose last month at the quickest rate since September 2009.
Chartered surveyors reported a boost in new buyer enquiries, with 56 percent more respondents to the Royal Institute of Chartered Sureveyors (RICS) Housing Survey reporting rises.
While October saw an increase in demand, the market saw little growth in the average house price, and 19 per cent of surveyors responding to the RICS questionnaire reported price drops in the region.
While demand rose across most of the UK, the North East saw the most notable increase, with surveyors reporting increases in interest of nearly 56 per cent.
Confidence is fairly high amongst surveyors that this interest can be translated into sales going into the new year. Almost a third of responses to the RICS questionnaire predicted a growth in transactions in the coming months.
RICS North East housing spokesperson, Richard Sayer of Rook Matthews Sayer said: “Sales and listings are hard won in a competitive market. However, inflation employment and mortgage opportunities are all improving which hopefully will lead to improved confidence in the housing market.”
RICS Housing spokesperson, Ian Perry, a Chartered Surveyor, adds: “Overall activity is still very low in most parts of the country and what the market desperately needs is for this to translate into actual sales.
“Initiatives like the NewBuy scheme are all well and good but they need time to bed in and take effect, and access to affordable mortgage finance is still very difficult for many first time buyers. With the Autumn Statement around the corner, we would like to see the government continue to focus on delivering new homes and encouraging the banks to lend at affordable levels.”
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Weather for Berwick-Upon-Tweed
Saturday 25 May 2013
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 6 C to 17 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: West
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 7 C to 16 C
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