Number of homes sold at new high

The property market continued to show signs it was picking up after the number of homes sold by estate agents reached an 18-month high in April.

The National Association of Estate Agents said that the average agent agreed 10 sales during the month, up from eight in March and a low of just five last August.

Low interest rates and recent house price falls have tempted potential house buyers back to the market, leading to a steady increase in transactions since the beginning of the year.

Property website Rightmove also reported that asking prices in England and Wales had jumped 2.4%, or £5,000, during the four weeks to May 9 - the fourth month they had increased.

And according to website Globrix, 102,175 new properties came on to the market in April, the first time the number of new listings had topped 100,000 in a month for a year.

Peter Bolton King, chief executive of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA), said: "What we are beginning to see now are consistent positive indicators that have held firm or improved since the beginning of the year.

"Six months ago people were talking about how British people's attitude to owning property had changed in the recession.

"The NAEA always said that this was nonsense, and that demand for property remained strong, but confidence in the market had gone. These figures show that this confidence is returning."

There are increasing signs that activity in the housing market has now passed its lowest point.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders last week reported a 29% jump in mortgage lending to people buying a new home during March, while the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said that inquiries from potential buyers rose at their fastest pace for almost a decade in April.

Nationwide also said price falls had slowed to just 0.4% in April, following a 0.9% rise in March, although Britain's biggest mortgage lender Halifax dented hopes of a recovery when it reported a 1.7% fall for the same period.

Economists have cautioned that, while activity may be picking up again, any recovery is likely to be slow due to rising unemployment and the ongoing problems in the mortgage market.