National Association of Estate Agents survey reports fall of 1.2% in December but says first time buyers are returning to the housing market.
The average price of property fell by 1.2% last month according to a survey by the National Association of Estate Agents.
Desipte the decline the NAEA said that house prices on average were 6.4% higher than a year ago. Half of estate agents surveyed also expected an upturn in January and 95% expected a rise in activity by Easter.
The NAEA also reported a return to the market by first time buyers in the second half of 2004. First time buyers currently comprise 16.1% of the market compared with 10% at the market’s peak in August.
With the market slowing in the second half of 2004 the NAEA said that the market currently favoured buyers. According to the data on buyers were achieving discounts on average of 5%.
