According to a new survey, Britain’s property market showed further signs of recovery at the end of last year as prices rose for the second month in succession.
The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) survey found that house prices rose for the second month in a row during December, following a previous 15 months of falls.
The Christmas period is traditionally a quiet time for property sales, but several recent house prices surveys have recorded an unseasonally busy December.
"The housing market is definitely seeing signs of a recovery," said RICS housing spokesman Jeremy Leaf.
"We expect the positive activity at the end of last year to continue over the coming months."
In its December survey, RICS says that eight per cent more surveyors reported a rise in prices over the last three months than a fall, compared to four per cent in November.
And the survey found further indications that residential property prices stabilised towards the end of 2005, as respondents noted a confidence boosting increase in buyer activity and property sales.
Importantly, the monthly RICS survey found that first time buyers were returning to the property market, confident that house prices will slide no further.
But surveyors have expressed concern about low levels of housing supply, which they said would continue to keep first-time buyers off the property ladder.
Prices at the first-time buyer end of the market have grown by 18 per cent since January 2004 compared to an average of 15 per cent, official figures show.
Mr Leaf added, "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," he added.
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House prices rise for 2nd month in December Fri, 20 Jan 2006
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