There were encouraging signs for the housing market during March as the number of homes sold by estate agents reached its highest level for more than a year, according to new data.
The National Association of Estate Agents reported that its members agreed an average of 8.43 sales each during the month, the highest number since November 2007 and the third month in a row that sales levels have risen.
Recent interest shown by potential buyers since the beginning of the year is now translating into sales, according to the group.
March also saw a 12% rise in the number of people looking for a new home who decided to register with an estate agent. The average estate agent had the highest number of potential buyers on their books during the month since January last year, with the figure standing at 268.
This suggests that buyers think now is the perfect time to get a bargain because house prices may soon stop falling and begin to rise again.
A quarter of homes that change hands are picked up by first-time buyers, with 23% of purchases made by people buying their first home, broadly in line with the previous two months.
The latest figures build on a run of more positive data on the housing market in recent weeks.
The Council of Mortgage Lenders said on Thursday that lending had risen by 16% during March, and HM Revenue & Customs published figures showing that the number of homes changing hands soared by 40% during the month.
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has reported rising buyer interest during the past five months, and also said this had begun to translate into higher sales in March.
Property website Rightmove recently said that asking prices had risen for the past three months, while Nationwide surprised the market by saying house prices rose by 0.9% during March, although Halifax reported a 1.9% fall for the same period.
However, economists have cautioned that while activity in the housing market may have bottomed out, any recovery is likely to be a long way off due to rising unemployment and continuing problems in the mortgage market.
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