There were positive signs in the housing market in April – not least the news that the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) survey into moving trends found more and more people believe now to is a good time to move to larger property.

During the very worst of the recession many property homeowners were forced to sit tight or downsize. So it’s a really encouraging sign that the study, which asked our NAEA members to give the main reasons for buying property in their branch, found that more than three quarters, (78%) cited ‘upscaling’.

Any evidence that ‘upscaling’ is back is welcome news to property professionals – after a couple of tough years for the industry a return to something approaching normality is definitely to be welcomed!

There are a number of reasons for this positive trend. Increased mortgage availability could be a factor, and a welcome one. A frustration over the past year has been the inability of those people who do want to buy a house to find a mortgage. Slowly that is changing.

More can always be done, of course. Recent changes to stamp duty for first time buyers will be a big help for an important part of the market, but we still believe that more reform is needed for this tax to make sense.

For now, however, all of the indicators are that the slow recovery is continuing its steady progress.