Housing market turns the corner

Despite a rather lacklustre economic recovery, the housing market is already turning the corner. Demand has bounced back, helped by a decline in mortgage interest rates. The stamp duty cut will provide further support to housing transactions over the next few months, but tighter credit conditions and a weaker labour market argue against a strong acceleration in demand. House prices have also reversed some of their previous drop, but surveyors still expect a small fall in prices over the next year.