Housing market 'set for real recovery in 2010'

Date:Tuesday 3rd November 2009
Author: Susanna Kavka

The property market looks to begin recovering in 2010, according to Jane Marr, company director for the Little House Company.

Both the volume of sellers and buyers needs to increase to ensure stability she said, warning that prices could stay the same or drop slightly as the market expands.

However Ms Marr advised that as surveyors are reportedly valuing very conservatively at present, "raising a house price now would soon put a property out of sync with the competition and serve to delay a sale".

Hometrack reported that average house prices increased by 0.2 per cent last month, but this is still 4.2 per cent down on last October. These increases were seen across 16 per cent of the country, with the price in the remaining 84 per cent staying static.

The company also reported that 92.2 per cent of sellers were receiving their asking price in October, compared to 88.3 per cent in February.