Wales shows signs of housing market improvements

Despite the downturn in the UK housing market, Savills estate agency has secured cash deals to the tune of two million pounds after successfully selling two five-bedroom homes in Wales.

The upmarket properties – one to the north of Cardiff, on the Cefin Mably development, and another in the Cyncoed area of the city, have been snapped up in spite of the recession, prompting Savills' head of residential sales, Peter Reilly, to predict that the housing slump is bottoming out.

Mr. Reilly confirmed that, compared to the final three months of last year, Savills had successfully secured three times the amount of property sales since January. He said that falling property prices and interest rate cuts had set the platform for a recovery when "macro-economic conditions are right."

In support of Mr. Reilly's beliefs, Nigel Jones, a director of John Francis, the Swansea and West Wales estate agents, also thinks that house price forecasts indicating an ongoing descending spiral are off the mark. The company has seen its property sales go up by 30% since January.

Indeed, findings released by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) yesterday included figures showing that the amount of chartered surveyors who expected property sales to rise over the next three months had reached its highest point since August last year.

Up to a fifth more members reported an increase rather than a decrease in the amount of enquiries from prospective purchasers, compared to 15% in January. Interest in property for sale in the UK was found to be strong across almost all areas of the country, particularly in London, where buyer interest climbed to a height not seen since October 2006.

Source: Wales Online | Last updated: 10th March 2009

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