Conveyancing Specialists Comment On Latest Trends

Confidence in the property market continues to grow despite there being very little movement in terms of prices, according to new figures from property experts at Irwin Mitchell.

The national law firm’s Conveyancing team have seen a 20 per cent increase in purchase instructions since April last year, which shows that some minor improvements are being made despite continuing difficulty in the market.

Such findings chime with other new research, such as the Rightmove Consumer Confidence Survey which revealed earlier this month that 35 per cent of home movers expect prices to rise in the next year – the highest proportion since autumn 2010.

However, despite such research, new statistics from Nationwide have shown that prices only increased modestly by 0.3 per cent across April. This marked the first rise since February.

Commenting on the trends, Lisa Gibbs, Partner and head of Irwin Mitchell’s national Conveyancing team, said: “While recent transaction figures suggest increased confidence has led to more house buyers being prepared to commit to a purchase, the very limited movement in house prices highlight that house buyers are continuing to exercise caution in the prices they are prepared to pay.

“Despite this, much of the current research does suggest that generally expectations are rising in the market.

“This also ties in with observations from our estate agent contacts who consider that this Spring has been busier than last for valuations and new instructions - and it is not just the effect of the end of the stamp duty holiday for first time buyers.”