‘Early signs’ that housing market conditions may be improving seen by surveyors

Aneisha Beveridge, research director at Hamptons and Connells Group, said: “While January began quietly – partly due to how the holidays fell – momentum built quickly as the month progressed.

“By the end of the month, applicant registrations had recovered to the same level as this time last year, which is encouraging given how strong demand was ahead of last April’s Stamp Duty deadline.

“Sales agreed aren’t far behind either, suggesting the improvement in sentiment is starting to feed through to activity.

“Much of this early year pick up has been driven by first time buyers, who accounted for a record share of January purchases in our data.

“With 93 per cent now securing a sub five per cent mortgage rate – the highest proportion since autumn 2022 – more new purchasers are finding they can move forward, and that is supporting wider transaction levels.

“Conditions remain tougher in the South, where affordability pressures are most acute, though even here we’re seeing tentative signs of improvement as borrowing costs edge lower.

“If mortgage rates remain steady or even continue to drift down over the spring, we would expect confidence to continue to build.

“But any recovery is likely to be steady rather than sudden, with the path of mortgage rates playing the central role in shaping how the market evolves.”