Housing market is 'moving back to normal conditions'

Estate agents in England and Wales reported a 5.6 per cent jump in the number of properties they had on their books during March, according to housing intelligence group Hometrack.

But the number of new buyers registering with estate agents rose by only 3.3 per cent during the month, the first time that increases in potential sellers has outstripped rises in new buyers since January 2009.

The group said the supply of homes on the market had already jumped by 10.2 per cent during the first two months of the year, compared with a rise of only 7 per cent during the whole of 2009.

Richard Donnell, Hometrack's director of research, said: "Talk of improved market conditions and prices returning to near peak levels in some markets is encouraging a growing number of households to sell their properties.

"Many registered buyers are also sellers, and as they gain the confidence to move, so they need to put their homes on the market.

"Overall, it seems that we are moving from a sellers' market back towards something more akin to normal market conditions."

House prices in England and Wales edged ahead by 0.3 per cent during the month, to stand at an average of 158,100, 1.3 per cent higher than a year earlier.

Prices rose in 21 per cent of postcode districts during March, slightly down on February's figure of 25.5 per cent, while they fell in 3.6 per cent of areas.

There was a 13 per cent jump in the number of sales agreed during the month, while the average amount of time a property is on the market eased slightly to 8.3 weeks, while sellers are now achieving around 94 per cent of their asking price.

The figures come as the British Bankers' Association reported that both mortgage lending and approvals for house purchase had remained subdued in February, as activity continued to be distorted by the end of the Government's stamp duty holiday.

Hometrack said the housing market recovery continued to be led by London and the South East, with prices in these regions rising by 0.6 per cent and 0.3 per cent respectively during the month.

But at the other end of the scale, Yorkshire and Humberside reported a 0.1 per cent price fall, while the cost of property remained unchanged in the East Midlands and North East.