House Hunting Up In Suffolk

12 February 2010, 08:15 | Updated: 12 February 2010, 08:23

Despite January's bad weather more people have been looking to buy a house in Suffolk.

National figures show enquiries are up and that has been reflected locally, according to Estate Agents.
 
The National Association of Estate Agent’s market report for January suggests that despite some of the worst weather on record the number of houses sold by the average agent increased month on month.

The average agent sold six properties in January compared to five in December.

The number of people registering with estate agents to buy property also increased, from 251 in December to 291 in January per branch.

In contrast the number of houses available for sale fell from 59 per branch in December to 55 per branch in January.

The percentage of sales made to first time buyers also increased from 19 per cent in December 2009 to 23 per cent last month.

Colin Girling runs an Estate Agents in Ipswich has had a positive month for sales. But he warns: "There is a great degree of unpredictability about the future. I think a lot will depend on how the election goes, that is something that we just don't know about. But also of course, we want the banks and building societys to be a bit more generous to the first-timers."