Market increase "cause for cheer"

Reports of an increase in the number of UK properties being brought to the sales market is a "cause for cheer", according to online property information specialists Zoopla.co.uk.

Figures released by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors showed that a net balance of 15 per cent of surveyors reported an increase in new instructions last month.

This brings a "much brighter outlook" to the housing market, according to Zoopla's commercial director Nicholas Leeming, as a figure of just five per cent was reported in September.

"The desperate lack of properties for sale has put the lid on housing market activity in recent months," he said.

"But more sellers are now looking to take advantage of strong buyer demand and recent house price increases - not least the ranks of reluctant landlords who let out their properties during the downturn and bided their time until market conditions improved."

The Land Registry revealed at the end of October that an average of 48,109 properties were sold per month between April and July 2009.

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