Interest cut boosts house viewing Monday, 19 September 2005, 22:59 GMT 23:59 UK
More buyers are showing an interest.
Evidence from the latest survey of the property market suggests it may be heading for an upturn.
In August, new enquiries from potential buyers rose for the third month in a row, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).
The RICS says interest in England, Scotland and Wales has been stimulated by last month's cut in interest rates.
You know what this does to the yield differential between the UK and the US now that we have raised our rate to 4.0%.
Property sales, says the survey, have also risen again and are now 8% higher than in February.
Prices still falling
The RICS believes that prices are still falling.
The big question is whether the market is just stabilising or if this is the beginning of a sustained revival. Jeremy Leaf, RICS spokesman
In all, 26% more of its members reported prices dropping in their neighbourhood than said prices were rising.
But that was lower than the 36% gap reported in July and was the smallest differential recorded so far this year.
"Sales are up, indicating a return of confidence to the market," said RICS spokesman Jeremy Leaf.
"The pace of decline in house price falls is at its lowest in a year, also pointing to more stable conditions."
He added: "The big question is whether the market is just stabilising or if this is the beginning of a sustained revival."
On Monday a similar message came from the property website Rightmove. It claimed that falling prices had attracted new buyers to the market and this meant that the year-long recession in sales was coming to an end.
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