THE latest Government and banking measures could be boosting the housing market in Worcestershire, according to estate agents.

David Stuart-Smith, executive officer of Andrew Grant, believes there are signs the market is recovering as lenders’ mortgage rates come down following the 1.5 per cent interest rates cut earlier this month.

Andrew Grant this week reported its best consecutive weeks of net house sale since June across the two counties.

Mr Stuart-Smith said the results were ”interesting and extremely welcome” and could be a sign of rising confidence among homebuyers off the back of falling mortgage rates.

“Lenders are at last responding to pressures for interest rate reductions to be passed on to the consumer,” he said. Will Kerton, partner with Knight Frank, said although October had been a “tough month” the rate interest cut had injected some confidence into the market.

“From conversations with our buyers they are waiting to get Christmas out of the way – but they want to buy,” he said.

This week it was revealed that the rate at which house prices are falling has eased during November.

Nationwide Building Society said house prices dropped by just 0.4 per cent during the month, a considerable improvement on October’s 1.3 per cent slide.

According to the latest figures from Land Registry, the average house price is now £165,529 representing a decrease month-on-month of 1.5 per cent.

And the latest figures from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) show a slight drop in the number of house sales between September and October.

Last month, RICS estate agencies were completing 10.9 transactions, compared with 11.5 a month earlier or just under three per week.

Charles Robinson, principal of Worcester’s Griffiths & Charles and RICS West Midlands spokesman, said he was not surprised there had been a fall.

He said: “I wish we had sold that many, but certainly sales are substantially lower and it’s also a quiet time of year.

“If there is anybody in Worcester selling more than that then I would be very surprised.” Mr Robinson said the Government rate cut earlier this month will take time to filter through to mortgage hunters but added sellers who “wanted to sell” could still move house.

He pointed to a rise in interest for the firm’s quarterly auctions with 10 properties on average now listed as evidence sellers were still interested. Rentals were still strong but rates were dropping while the newly introduced Home Information Packs (HIPs) typically costing £350 were an additional cost putting off would-be movers, according to Mr Robinson.