Housing market confidence continues to grow

THE North West has seen one of the highest rises in the country for new instructions to sell homes, according to RICS.

Its monthly housing market survey found that more chartered surveyors reported a rise in new instructions to sell from vendors in November, with 36% reporting rises compared to 5% in October.

In the North West demand for property from potential buyers has also increased, with 57% of surveyors stating that enquiries from potential purchasers were rising rather than falling, compared to 37% in October.

Demand is out stripping supply across the UK, according to RICS, and this imbalance has been the main factor influencing prices. For the fourth month in a row the majority of surveyors were again reporting rising rather than falling prices.

In the North West, surveyors saw an increase in confidence last month with a net balance of 39% of surveyors agreeing that prices were rising compared to 20% in October; nationally, this rose 1% to 35%.

However, newly agreed sales for the North West dropped significantly in comparison to October, down to 13% from 36%, possibly indicating a continued difficulty for buyers to secure finances from mortgage lenders who are reluctant to approve funds.

Ian Perry, North West-based RICS spokesperson on the housing market, said: “For the fourth month in a row, the survey points towards prices rising, even though the general state of the economy would suggest that the housing market should not be faring as well as it is.”