Property sales reach 18-month high

Estate agents sold more houses in April than in any month since October, 2007, new figures from the National Association of Estate Agents reveal.

The average estate agent sold ten properties in April, up from eight in March and a low point of five in August 2008.

Chief executive of the National Association of Estate Agents, Peter Bolton King, said: "What we are beginning to see now are consistent positive indicators that have held firm or improved since the beginning of the year.

"Six months ago people were talking about how British people's attitude to owning property had changed in the recession.

"The NAEA always said that this was nonsense, and that demand for property remained strong, but confidence in the market had gone.

"These figures show that this confidence is returning."