INTEREST in property rose for the fifth month in a row during March, with sales increasing for the first time for more than a year, figures showed last night.

New buyer inquiries were strong in all regions of the country as people looked to take advantage of lower interest rates and recent house price falls, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

Around 31% more surveyors reported a rise in inquiries than those who saw a fall, the highest level since September, 2003, and up from 21% more in February.

The jump in buyer inquiries is also beginning to translate into sales, with the number of transactions agreed rising for the first time since the end of 2007.

However, the improvement was slight, increasing to an average of 9.7 properties per estate agent during the three months to the end of March, up from 9.6 in February, and transactions remain very low by historical levels.

None the less, the balance of surveyors reporting newly agreed sales moved back into positive territory in March, and the expectation is that sales will continue to improve going forward.

At the same time, the key sales to stock ratio picked up for the third month in a row.