Daffodils line the roadsides when in theory they should not. Likewise, following the mild winter, property fortunes are showing green shoots of recovery just as we may have been thinking the harsh frost of a downturn had set in for the year.
"There's been a small but important change in direction," says Richard Donnell, research director at the consultancy Hometrack and an adviser on housing markets to local authorities and government bodies. "After eight months of falling demand, our latest survey saw a clear pick up with an eight per cent increase in buyers. This is a smaller rise than we'd normally see but with interest rates coming down it seems buyers are coming back to the market."
No one suggests this means business as usual, but the threat of a housing crash or significant price falls is fading fast. The housing market, it seems, is a tough old beast and prices, all pointing down in the last months of 2007, are now much more mixed.
"In the three months to [the end of] February, prices were marginally higher than in the previous quarter. We expect the Bank of England to cut base rate at least twice more in 2008," says Martin, who predicts high employment and economic growth will keep house prices stable this year.
Rightmove, which analyses the asking prices of homes on sale, last month reported the lowest number of properties coming to the market for three years - yet average asking prices rose 3 per cent over January's figure. |
