SURVEYORS REMAIN DOWNBEAT ON PROPERTY PRICES

[Mar 15 2006, MoneyExpert]: Surveyors remain downbeat on property prices. National Homebuyers has poured cold water over recent reports of house price rises.

Surveys by Halifax, Rightmove, the Financial Times and Hometrack have all reported February house price increases.

The only downbeat assessment until now has been from Nationwide, which reported losses following a large rise in January.

Figures collated from independent chartered surveyors by National Homebuyer have suggested that the market remains more fragile than has been reported, however.

Ninety per cent of all surveyors who responded to the poll said that housing remained "static", with a large number saying that it is a "buyers' market".

"Unfortunately, it's going to be another challenging year for sellers," said Julian King, managing director of National Homebuyers.

"National Homebuyers deals with hundreds of customers who are still finding it difficult to sell their property.

"Whilst reasonably priced houses are selling well, too many vendors are given an inflated asking price, meaning their houses take longer to sell or stay on the market indefinitely."

A tiny 3.8 per cent described the market as "buoyant", 2.1 per cent said that demand is "reasonable", 3.1 per cent said that the market is "satisfactory".

More ominously, just 1.6 per cent of surveyors said that the market is "improving".

Analysts have talked up prospects for a return to positive house price growth this year, but some have warned that even with best rate mortgage deals and assistance, issues of affordability remain.