The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) reported, "Healthy sales leading up to and extending over the Christmas period suggest the housing market is ‘back on track’.
"Consumer confidence seemed to be on the up as agents across the country reported record Christmas sales," reported the NAEA.
"Buyers who saw an opportunity or who needed to purchase before Christmas helped push sales through," said NAEA.
According to the NAEA’s latest housing market survey, December is usually a quiet time of year and the number of sales fell between November and December from 11 per agent to eight.
The NAEA said, "However, the market was still healthy with sales up 33.3 per cent compared with the previous December, when the survey recorded an average of six sales per agent. Encouragingly, the latest figures are back up to the level of those witnessed during December 2002 and 2003, demonstrating tangible signs of recovery after an uncertain year."
The average difference between asking price and sale price rose in December from 3.9 per cent to 4.0 per cent "demonstrating a slight increase in unrealistic pricing by sellers over the Christmas period."
Christopher Hall, president of the NAEA said, "Many of us predicted a slow but steady year, which 2005 indeed proved to be."
Prices eased during the year and there is no doubt it was a tough one for estate agents. Since the lowering of interest rates in August, however, confidence quietly increased and the latter three months produced high numbers of sales and more registered applicants.
Looking ahead to 2006, Christopher Hall does not expect prices to surge, but still believes investing in property is a long-term bet.
He said, "I believe that UK house prices will not surge in 2006 as we have seen in previous years, but prices have levelled out and I anticipate property values to show small but steady increases of approximately two to five per cent, enough to keep up with inflation or wage increases assuming employment levels and interest rates remain about the same.
"A few areas will be playing 'catch up' and could see some substantial gains. For the long-term, I have reason to believe, and am confident, in the average house price increasing by up to 100 per cent over the coming ten to 15 years so my advice is to continue to invest in bricks and mortar."
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UK property market back on track Thu, 12 Jan 2006
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