Published on : Tue, 15 Nov 2005 18:28GMT
by : Sadat Sayeed

LONDON - The latest figures from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors show that UK house prices fell at their slowest pace over the last 15 months in October. Also RICS said that growth in new buyer enquiries hit the highest mark in two years, underlining the fact that the housing market is showing reliable signs of revival.

"This month has seen further evidence of a pick-up in the market with the recovery in would-be buyer interest," said Jeremy Leaf, a spokesman for RICS. The number of chartered surveyors who reported house price falls in October was recorded at 9 percent as compared to the 21 percent reported in September.

Analysts had expected the fall to be just 4 percent, meaning that it would be at 18 percent, but the 9 percent figure has come as a pleasant surprise. The number of property deals that were finalized also rose for a fifth month in the row, RICS said.

"The return to more balanced market conditions is welcome," said Jeremy Leaf. "Negotiations between buyers and sellers remain hard, and over-priced property continues to remain unsold." He added that even though the Bank of England's rate cut in August was responsible for much of the buyer interest in the property markets, buyers were still nervous about committing too much.

However, RICS was emphatic in saying that even though the interest in the market is returning, it was "still below the long-run average for the survey, and therefore do not point to a strong market recovery."

In other words boom-time is still far away. The biggest gains from the housing perspective were made in Scotland and the North West. The RICS data finds echoes in similar surveys by Nationwide and Halifax, which show that there is a revival in the market.