MORE HOMES ARE PUT ON THE MARKET

PRESS reports about a shortage of homes for sale are wrong, an estate agency boss claimed yesterday.

Hamptons regional director Roger Pollard said the number of homes put up for sale through offices of the agency in the Thames Valley and Chilterns from January to the end of March, was a third higher than the same period last year.

He said: "Our figures indicate extremely buoyant conditions in the local property market. This is great news for homebuyers who have been frustrated by the lack of property for sale."

The number of homes on the books of Hamptons' local offices has increased by 27 per cent since December. Commission earned from completed sales is 50 per cent up on the first quarter of last year.

Mr Pollard added: "We are agreeing sales at the same rate as we are receiving instructions to fresh property on the market.

"Buyers need to move quickly when they see the property they want."

The latest report from the Halifax puts Bucks eighth out of the 57 counties listed in the house price rankings.

The ratings are based on the average price of semis from January to the end of March. The Bucks average was £91,758.

The overall average price of all types of properties sold with a Halifax mortgage in the South East in the first quarter was £100,219.

The average for terraced houses was £72,465, semis were £94,774, detached houses were £171,975, bungalows averaged £102,642 and the figure for flats and maisonettes was £54,998.

Overall, property prices in the South East rose 2.4 per cent in the first quarter, an increase of 12.4 per cent on this time last year, but not as much as in the previous three months when the gain was 3.4 per cent.

Mr Pollard said: "The main exceptions are new houses and also chocolate box cottages, the sort that always fetch a good price because they are so much in demand."

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