House sales at highest level for more than two and a half years

Chartered surveyors sold an average of 16.8 homes between December 2012 and February this year, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. This means the number of houses sold in the UK has reached its highest level in more than two-and-a-half years.

The RICS report says that surveyors are cautiously optimistic that this trend will continue with eight percent more predicting transaction levels will continue to rise rather than fall over the coming three months.

"It’s encouraging to see that the housing market now appears to be picking up across most parts of the UK despite ongoing concerns about the health of the economy," said Peter Bolton King, RICS Global Residential Director. "This may, in part, be down to the growing availability of mortgage finance through schemes such as Funding for Lending. However, even with activity running at its best level since the middle of 2010, it is still well down on its pre-crisis norm."