Estate agents from around the country are in a chipper mood. It seemed certain that there were months more of market slowdown to endure — or years, according to the gloomier experts — but in a survey of agents conducted by Bricks and Mortar they seem almost universally to be reporting a bumper summer.

New buyers have emerged, among them first-time buyers with deposits furnished by mum and dad, and a range of overseas investors with foreign currency to salt away. But there are other buyers: as Peter Young of John D. Wood says, buyers and sellers just want to “get on with their lives”.

Martin Bowen-Ashwin, of Chesterton Humberts, in Bridport, Dorset, says: “Property is again seen as a safe haven. Demand is strong in all price ranges and for most types of properties, whether in the town or country.”

The main beneficiary has been the better-known parts of London and the South East. In particular, agents report interest returning to the top end of the market. James Gilbert-Green, of Henry & James, an agent in Chelsea and Belgravia, says that “sought-after properties are now achieving prices similar to — or greater than — the peak of the market in 2007.”

But this revival in the prime market has also spread out to other postcodes in the capital, and further afield to picturesque parts of the South West and to northern cities. Among them is Leeds, where the slowdown hit hard last year. Jonathan Morgan, of Morgans in Leeds, says: “We are coming through the other side now.”

The key factor behind the mini-boom, which agents believe started as early as February in some areas, is the shortage of supply. Homeowners may look on the reported rise in prices — up 1.6 per cent last month, according to Nationwide — as a welcome return to capital growth, but the majority are still kept from the market by worries about jobs and the shortage of accessible credit.

And buyers (perhaps prompted by the mood among lenders) are more savvy; agents report that they are reluctant to buy anything sub-standard, unless at a substantial discount. Simon Ashwell, of Savills in Weybridge (a notable hotspot), says: “If sellers want to push prices too hard, they will frighten buyers off.”

Amid the unexpected summer resurgence, old concerns are returning. Haart and other agents, mindful that a stamp duty holiday for homes priced up to £175,000 will come to an end in December, are warning of the stultifying effect of this cost at a time when budgets are so tight. Home information packs remain unpopular.

The spectre of inflation, and potential interest rate hikes to address, it concerns many. As Robert Pritchard, of Smiths Gore in the Cotswolds, says: “If rates were to rise, there would be a rapid deterioration of values and activity.” In fact, mortgages have not ceased to be an issue. Mike Bentley, a National Association of Estate Agents spokesman in Birmingham, says: “The biggest hurdle to sales is the attitude and efficiency of lenders.”

Richard Donnell, the director of research at Hometrack, counsels caution: “The headline figures are being skewed by price rises that are restricted to relatively small pockets; this is creating the impression of a national housing market recovery.” JH

Case study

Adam Clay, 30, and his fiancée, Rosie Dixon, 29, have sacrificed their summer months. Rather than relaxing, the couple have been rushing from their home in Shepherds Bush, West London, to Barnes and East Sheen to scour estate agents’ windows for a house to buy before anyone else beats them to it.

The couple sold their two-bedroom flat for nearly £400,000 only two weeks after putting it on the market in July. But their elation over a successful sale in a downturn, and a profit of £100,000 after three years of ownership, has been dampened by their difficulty in securing a three-bedroom family house for £500,000 to £600,000.

In recent weeks they have made offers on two properties, both of which have failed. Adam, a headhunter in the City, says: “We were beaten on one, and in the case of the other, which we fell in love with, the family can’t find a house to move to. We are stuck in a stalemate. There is no stock. Most of the properties we have looked at have been through probate or forced sales. The part of the market that is usually made up of people moving to bigger houses is simply not there.”

Agents report a shortage of family homes in good areas. Amy Smith, of Chesterton Humberts, says that prices are creeping towards their 2007 peak, adding: “Almost as soon as we take something on the market, we are selling it.” LD

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