12 Jan

Trading up 'becoming easier'

Trading up 'becoming easier'

It is becoming easier for most people moving up the housing ladder to do so, property portal propertyfinder.com has stated.

A study by the site has found that the recent falls in house prices have closed the gap between homes with different numbers of bedrooms.

Those moving from a one-bedroom home to a property with two bedrooms now need only find an extra £31,000, compared with £41,500 12 months ago, due to the latter category seeing the largest price declines.

Moving from a two-bed to a three-bed home is now over £8,000 cheaper.

The one kind of home to buck the trend is four-bedroom properties, which have seen prices hold up better than other segments as upsizing to one of these from a three-bedroom home is £9,502 more expensive than a year ago.

In related news, there are signs that the overall number of transactions is set to rise, a surveyor has reported.

Operations director for Tyser Greenwood Surveyors Roger Russ said last week: "The feedback from many estate agents is that there has been a marked increase in activity towards the end of 2008 and early 2009, with prospective purchasers registering at a greater rate."
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