By Stephen Neale

NATIONAL, UK, Nov 8, 2009 — HOUSING demand is outstripping supply with five house hunters for every available property.

A monthly market survey for October found that the average estate agent branch had 287 house hunters on its books and just with 57 properties – down from 62 in September.

The figures – produced by the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) – also showed demand was pushing house prices up as the gap between asking and selling prices fell from 10.9% in September to 8.8% in October. 

Gary Smith, President of the NAEA, said: “There is strong demand for property and more optimism in the housing market than we have seen for months. This is good news for the recovery of the market and for the UK economy in general.

“Many buyers are at the very beginning of the house buying process and this is creating a lack of properties in the short term. It is now up to the Government and the banks to do more to keep the momentum of market recovery going.”

An increase in the number of people looking for homes did not translate into an increase in sales. The average number of completions per branch dropped from nine in September to eight in October.

Almost 25 per cent of sales were made by first time buyers (22%) – more than double the number this time last year. 

Mr Smith called on government to extend the Stamp Duty holiday, scheduled to end in December, because it mainly affects first time buyers, and is currently scheduled to end in December.

He said: “The danger is that this short-sighted policy could precipitate an unwelcome pause in the housing market at the start of the New Year. We can only hope that common sense will prevail and that the Government will raise the lowest level at which Stamp Duty will apply to £175,000 for an indefinite period.”

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