Is the housing market turning a corner?

There are plenty of surveys of the property market - following prices is almost a national hobby. But one out this morning from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) does suggest that the market is turning a corner.

For the first time since June 2010 it shows a positive reading, prices edging up. And surveyors report a notable uptick in demand, and the highest level of sales in three years.

There are still big regional imbalances around the country of course - not every house in every street will be increasing in value again. And of course if you are one of the millions who would like to buy a house, but can not afford it, a return to a healthier market is not desirable.

What is notable though, about this survey, is that the government's big Budget announcements of Help to Buy - an expansion of the availability of shared ownership, an extra 3 billion, and the Mortgage Guarantee which doesn't start until next year, appear to have started to bump up confidence a bit. RICS suggests that is the factor that has started to encourage buyers and sellers to get stuck in. There is a separate debate about whether encouraging people to take on more debt to buy a house is really the answer to our economy. But at the very least, it does seem that the policies are starting to make a difference.