Estate agents say housing market is stabilising

Recent reports have suggested a downturn in both property prices and transactions, with the Council of Mortgage Lenders predicting a 7% fall in prices in 2008, the Government suggesting falls of 10% and the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors claiming transactions could fall by 45%. The NAEA’s latest survey found the number of buyers continued to fall in April 2008, while the proportion of first time buyers also dwindled. The average number of buyers on estate agent books fell from 249 in March to 237 in April, while the proportion of first time buyers fell to 7.7%, compared with 8.3% ...