A house builder is hopeful that the market is recovering and will pick up pace in the next few months.
Linden Homes has said that reservations of properties were up 49.7 per cent in the first few weeks of September, rising from 1,484 in September 2004 to 2,196 a year later.
The market was said to be helped by a reduction of interest rates in August. Prices are predicted to be stable into 2006.
Philip Davies, chief executive of Linden Homes, said: "I am encouraged by the numbers of investors returning to the market this September and making reservations.
"The combination of a more realistically priced second hand home market and a general lowering of expectation regarding sale prices mean we can look forward to the market gathering momentum over the autumn period" he added.
The news comes as the British Bankers Association announced that mortgage approvals rose by 8.9 per cent in August from the previous year.
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