The first signs of the pause for breath in the housing market are still mainly anecdotal, according to NAEA president, Julie Westby, who says they have yet to make much impact on the statistics. "Key indicators such as the number of applicant enquiries, year-on-year price increases, and the number of sales transacted each month, all remain highly positive, though they have fallen back from the headier months of last year,” she said. "However, the NAEA's branch chairmen, who provide informed comment on the situation within their regions, now have widely divergent views."
Branches reporting strong activity and a buoyant mood amongst buyers and sellers include Bedfordshire & Milton Keynes, East Sussex, the North West, and South Cheshire, Merseyside and North Wales. Branches detecting uncertainty amongst buyers and sellers are Devon, Hereford & Worcestershire, and Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire.
Westby said: "The consensus seems to be that, where there is a slowdown, it is the result of uncertainty over the international situation and the lack of a 'feelgood factor'. This is translating into a higher level of price sensitivity.
The survey itself indicates that house prices nationally were 16 per cent higher in February 2003 than they were in February 2002, and that the number of new sales is climbing back to the levels experienced last autumn, following the traditional Christmas lull. It also reveals that new applicants are coming into the market in similar numbers to those seen in the early summer and the early autumn last year. Increases in the number of viewings per sale, and the number of weeks between instruction and exchange of contracts, however, indicate that buyers now feel able to be more selective.
