One in ten estate agents expect to see an increase in property sales over the next few months. At the same time around one third of agents predict they’ll get busier as the year progresses.

The news was garnered from the latest report compiled by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics), while the growing optimism is down to last week’s cut in interest rates by the Bank of England. A further interest rate cut is expected this year, making mortgage rates even more affordable for prospective buyers.

Mortgage approvals increase 28%

Rics say it’s the ninth month in a row that sales instructions have increased. With an average 25 transactions per agent, it’s the highest figure since the start of lockdown in Autumn 2020. Meanwhile, listings are averaging around 45 properties per branch. 

Recent statistics from the Bank of England show mortgage approvals are also on a high – 28% up on the same time the previous year.

Edinburgh is top property investment city

Meanwhile, Scotland’s capital city remains the top city for property investment. This is followed by Glasgow, Manchester and London. The Colliers’ Top UK Residential Investment Cities survey is carried out every six months and shows there has been little movement since last summer. 

The biggest mover was Reading. The city fell out of the top 10 but is back at number five, thanks to an increase in new business in the area.  Conversely, it was a lack of new business that caused Oxford to fall from fifth to ninth in the list. The other nations were represented by Belfast (in seventh position), and Cardiff in tenth.

Andrew White, head of UK residential at Colliers, said: “…there’s been a period of stability in the UK housing market, with locations that have been sure investments in recent times remaining at the top.”

The report looks at 20 cities in the UK, grading them against indicators such as population growth, leisure facilities, GDP, infrastructure, the number of multinational companies and EPC rankings for private rentals.