The NAEA, which in recent months has been criticised for allegedly under-counting the proportion of first time buyers in the market, now says they account for 30 per cent of transactions.
The association says the total number of people registered as looking for a property to buy reached a 10-year high in September, with member agents each reporting an average of 406 buyers - the highest since October 2004, when 511 buyers were reported.
However, while supply of housing increased slightly from last month, from 49 houses available in August to 51 in September. This is still seasonally low - the last time that supply levels were lower for September was in 2002, when 43 houses were available per NAEA member branch.
However, sale prices are less competitive than before. Only four per cent of properties sold in September were sold for more than the original asking price, and a stark 82 per cent were sold for less than asking price.
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Comments
It's clear a large number of sellers have increased the asking price in anticipation of lower offers. The market might be slower but prices are certainly hitting all time highs.
So they were criticised for under-counting first-time buyers, and then the proportion leaps up to 30%. Hmm...