The housing market is heating up with increasing numbers of people looking to buy or sell, according to two separate reports.

The latest survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) showed that estate agents and surveyors are seeing rising numbers of buyer enquiries as well as more sellers coming to market.

The monthly survey takes the temperature of Rics’ members – both estate agents and surveyors – and gives a snapshot of what is happening on the ground in the property market across the country.

Rising market? Estate agents and surveyors are seeing higher numbers of buyer enquiries

Rising market? Estate agents and surveyors are seeing higher numbers of buyer enquiries

Nationally, more Rics members reported increasing numbers of buyer enquiries in January than those reporting fewer buyer enquiries.

Rics said it was the strongest month for buyer demand since February 2022. At that time house prices were 10.8 per cent up year-on-year, according to Halifax.

Mark Wood, a Rics member based in Cambridge said it was an ‘encouraging start to the year with increased activity from motivated buyers.’

‘The drop in mortgage rates and talk of base rate reductions are encouraging to potential purchasers,’ he added. 

Edward Rook, a Rics member based in Sevenoaks added: ‘Reduced mortgage rates have brought buyers off the sidelines.’

As the number of buyers is increasing, so too is the number of sellers coming to market.

Last month also saw a pick-up in the flow of new instructions being listed for sale, according to Rics.

Having been stuck in negative territory over much of the past few years, January’s Rics survey reading marks the most positive response for new sales instructions since March 2021.

House hunting: Rightmove said new sales listings are 13% higher than last year while buyer demand is 7% higher

House hunting: Rightmove said new sales listings are 13% higher than last year while buyer demand is 7% higher

This chimes with separate figures from Rightmove, which revealed the number of new properties coming onto the market for sale is 13 per cent higher than last year, while buyer demand over the same period is 7 per cent higher.

Marion Currie, a Rics member in Galbraith in Scotland said: ‘Market appraisal and viewing requests increased as the month progressed and sellers and buyers woke up from the post-Christmas lull. 

‘We expect this to increase as we head into February, but realistic values are key to a healthy market this year.’

Perhaps unsurprisingly, there was an uptick in sales being agreed by Rics members, with more members reporting rising sales figures compared to those reporting fewer sales.

Tarrant Parsons, senior economist at Rics, said: ‘The UK housing market has seen a continued improvement in buyer activity through the early part of the year, supported by the recent easing in mortgage interest rates.

‘Although sales volumes through much of the year ahead are likely to remain relatively subdued compared to the longer-term average, the outlook has now turned modestly brighter on a consistent basis over the past few survey reports.’

Record number of home valuation requests in January

Increasing numbers of homes look set to hit the market this year, according to Rightmove, after it revealed a record number of homeowners contacted an estate agent to get their home valued last month.

The property website revealed the number of people requesting a home valuation by an estate agent was 23 per cent higher in January than the previous record from January 2023, and 27 per cent higher than the third highest ever month, which was in July 2020.

One of the factors contributing to this renewed confidence amongst many sellers and buyers to crack on with plans in 2024 is lower mortgage rates.

Mortgage lenders began cutting rates from August and this rate cutting continued into 2024. In January alone, more than 50 mortgage lenders cut their residential rates – some more than once. 

Average mortgage rates have continued to slowly trend downwards since then, and the average five-year mortgage rate has fallen from a high of 6.37 per cent in August to 5.22 per cent as of today, according to Moneyfacts.

While the cuts have largely come to a standstill over the past two weeks, and some lenders have increased their rates, borrowers securing the cheapest deals can now get a rate of just below 4 per cent when fixing for five years or just above 4 per cent when fixing for two years. 

Tim Bannister, Rightmove’s property expert, said: ‘The early data suggests estate agents have had a busy start to 2024, with more market activity than at the start of last year.

‘This activity we’re seeing is likely to be a combination of those movers who have recently decided to make 2024 their year for a new home, and some pent-up demand from those who took a step back last year to consider their options while the outlook for mortgage rates was more unclear.

‘It’s early days but the first month of data is encouraging.’

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk

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