Country house price falls 'halve'

8 April 2009 12:47pm

Price falls in the prime country house market halved during the first quarter of the year as buyer demand increased, an estate agent said.

The average prime country property lost 4.7% of its value in the three months to the end of March, compared with a 9% slide during the final quarter of 2008, according to Knight Frank.

The group said it was too early to rule out further price falls, but said the bottom of the market looked close in England's Home Counties.

It added that prime cottages, farm houses and manor houses had lost 20% of their value during the past year, but sales volumes were now beginning to increase in some areas.

Rupert Sweeting, Knight Frank's head of country department, said: "While it would be wrong to say that the market has started to recover across the board, we are undoubtedly in a very different place compared with the end of 2008.

"Viewings are starting to approach normal levels and we are even seeing a return to competitive bidding in some circumstances.

"More realistic pricing from vendors and a determination by purchasers to get on with their lives means we are now closer to that magic point where both parties' aspirations neatly coincide."

He added that during March sales of rural homes by Knight Frank increased by 1% compared with the same period of 2008, with demand particularly strong in the Home Counties and South West.

The improvement in the prime property market mirrors encouraging signs that have recently been reported in the mainstream one.

Estate agents have seen increased demand from potential buyers since the beginning of the year, while mortgage approvals for house purchase rose by 19% during February and Nationwide reported a 0.9% price rise in March.

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