NAEA: House sales up in February

The National Association of Estate Agent's market report for February showed that the bad weather did little to curb the enthusiasm of eager house hunters looking for their dream home.

While the bad weather had an impact on the number of people registering with an agent this month, the number of houses sold increased from six (5.7) in January to seven (6.8) in February.

Only 258 house hunters registered with an agent compared to 291 in January, the lowest number recorded over the last 12-months.

The number of houses available for sale increased slightly from 55 per branch in January to 56 in February meaning there were still four house hunters for every property.

The percentage of sales made to first time buyers increased in January from 23% to 24% this month.

Commenting, president of the NAEA, Gary Smith, said: "It's encouraging to see that the bad weather hasn't deterred agents from making sales this month even if it has stopped some house hunters from registering with an agent.

"These figures suggest that there's an increasing appetite for property which will feed recovery over the next few months as the weather improves. This growing confidence is reflected in the fact that first time buyers now take up a quarter of the market.

"Supply and demand continues to be an issue and one we are taking up with the Government ahead of the budget. More needs to be done to make house building a top priority over the next 12 months if we want the market to strengthen rather than stall."