‘Over the holiday period, about 21 property sales were made per surveyor, more than double the lowest point of the 2009 downturn, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
Peter Bolton King, global residential director at RICS, welcomed the revival in the nation’s housing market, but warned that prices could rise to unsustainable levels in some areas without a marked increase in the number of homes coming up for sale.
Meanwhile, the Council of Mortgage Lenders said that 27,000 loans for house purchase had been handed to first-time buyers in November. This marked a rise of 24% compared with a year ago and was the highest number recorded since 2007.
Paul Smee, director-general of the CML, said that he expected such growth to continue this year.’
Sources: The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, Daily Mail, Daily Mirror, The Herald