Demand for property rising, says Hometrack

Posted 26/07/2009

A growing number of people in the UK are looking to make a property purchase, industry analysts have reported.

According to figures from Hometrack, the year-on-year decline in house prices slowed from 8.7 per cent to 7.7 per cent in July.

Richard Donnell, director of research at the group, attributed this partly to increasing levels of demand from prospective buyers, as well as a “growing scarcity” of property up for sale.

However, he said a number of factors are standing in the way of a full recovery in the housing market, such as ongoing concerns over job security.

Mr Donnell added that a lack of access to mortgage finance is also hampering the possibility of the sector picking up.

Chancellor of the exchequer Alistair Darling this week called on banks to step up their levels of lending.

He told BBC1’s Andrew Marr Show that the government did not bail them out as “some kind of charitable act” and told them to follow through on the promises they have made.