EARLY SIGNS OF STABILISATION

"I calculate that fewer than 40,000 homes sold in December", he says. "Each estate agency office has around 60 properties on its books, but is selling just one a week.

"One month's apparent increase in prices on the previous month may be encouraging, but the Halifax survey also confirms their belief that house prices are 17.2% lower than this time last year."

Pryor thinks the Halifax based its index on around 12,000 mortgage offers made each month - which represents just six homes in each of 2,000 towns and cities across the UK.

He urges sellers not to think that values have returned to their historic levels; many deals being done are still around 12% lower than asking price.

"This suggests to me that house prices are still falling with many finding that their home will be what it was worth back in 2000/2001," Pryor says.

"For some of these folk, prices will have fallen by around 59% from the peak seen in summer 2007."

Nicholas Leeming, a director of leading property website Propertyfinder.com, says it is far too early to take one set of figures as a new trend in the market.

"But agents in Newcastle and the Midlands in recent days have told me that there is a seasonal increase in enquiries, and that this increase is bigger than in January 2008.

"I understand there has been a substantial increase in enquiries, quite a lot of them first-time buyers. But until we can see that they have been turned into transactions in February/March, it is not a trend.

"This is certainly, however, a positive start to the year."

However, at Capital Economics, which predicted the housing bust about two years before it started, the diagnosis is gloomier than ever.

"Although mortgage approvals are showing signs of stabilisation - albeit at rock bottom levels - the continuing tightening in lending criteria and a drastically weakening economy mean activity is unlikely to recover significantly in the coming months," it says.

"At current levels, approvals are pointing to a faster pace of house price falls, perhaps 25% year-on-year, in the next few months."

However, since autumn 2007, the global credit crunch has often surprised experts with unexpected changes in direction.

Many agents facing trading difficulties will hope there is at least a green shoot or two of recovery in the Halifax figures.

FRENCH QUALITY OF LIFE STILL BECKONS BRITISH BUYERS

Although the sale of their home in the UK will generate much less cash than a couple of years ago, many Britons still dream of fleeing our crowded shores to settle permanently in the wide, open spaces of rural France.

Some ask Gordon Barnes, a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, who has been running a gite business near Bergerac with his wife Jane since 2005, to run his critical eye over a property to help negotiations with owners and agents.

His service ranges widely from his Dordogne base, southwards to the Pyrenees, the region around Bordeaux, Cognac country, the Limousin, and west to Clermont-Ferrand, all popular with British buyers.

His surveys close to home cost around €650, including tax and travel costs. Surveying a chateau can take three days work, and the fee can approach €2,000.

He aims to turn his reports around within days which can be vital during negotiations.

"Cannier buyers use my reports to put conditions in a contract which provide them with a 'get out' clause if things are not done," he says.

Other clients want to use the seven day cooling off period, during which they can change their mind after signing up to a purchase, to maximum effect. If Gordon finds a big snag, they can still put out without loss.

"But most of the time my report gives people the peace of mind to move forward properly with confidence," he says.

Gordon has 35 years experience of the UK construction industry, and worked in the leisure industry with leading firms, including Rank Leisure.

Around Bergerac, where he is based, he says, a network of small companies set up by Britons are ready to help other Brits arriving in the area.

"Too many people pursuing a dream tend to look at property through rose-tinted spectacles," he says. "In several cases, I have urged potential buyers to walk away - even though they assure me that they enjoy D-I-Y.

"Others times, I look at properties and think 'These people could be rather lonely'.

"So many older properties in France look marvellous and romantic with huge ceiling beams, open fireplaces and period features which have survived the generations. In general, the French bash property about far less than the Brits.

"But these properties can need massive repairs and extensive renovations which can trigger repair bills running into tens of thousands of pounds."

When Gordon launched his survey operation, many French agents were initially suspicious.

"As we discovered when we were looking for our own property, many French agents display a remarkable lack of care and interest in purchasers," he says.

"They never ever rang us back when we made enquiries.

"They don't have anything like surveys, so agents were initially very suspicious and saw surveys as a negative thing. Now they see a survey can often help in persuading an English buyer that it is safe to go ahead."

Gordon says that much of his work centres on homes around €250,000 - from around £225,000, after the recent plunge in sterling.

He has also discovered a fundamental difference in attitudes between French sellers and British buyers.

"British buyers think they can offer way below an asking price because the sellers are desperate," he says. "In fact, many French properties are sold when Mum and Dad have finally died, and the children can't agree on the price reduction.

"Some properties can remain on the market for years while they chew things over between themselves."

There is, of course, a huge difference in the supply of mortgage finance, which has so far enabled the French to escape some of the disasters now unfolding in our housing market: mortgage advances have been tightly controlled to ensure monthly repayments do not exceed 30% of income.

So how do they see the market in the Dordogne at the start of 2009?

Gordon says agents in the Aquitaine area, which includes the Dordogne, are advising vendors to expect 10% less for a property than its value in 2007 - but many of Briton's buyers are pitching offers much lower than that.

He says there is also a perception that the pound could recover to around €1.25 by midsummer - as the eurozone suffers heavier damage from the credit crunch than it has seen so far.

If this actually happens, British buyers could get more bangs with their bucks - or their pounds - later in the year.

Recent reports have indicated that the number of British buyers has slumped by 50% at the end of 2008, with prices across the country down by anything between 10% and 25%.

::INFORMATION: Gordon Barnes can be contacted at GPB Project Services on 0033 (0) 553 233 394 and by email to gordon.barnes@orange.fr

His website is on www.france-property-surveys.com.

ACCIDENTAL LANDLORDS MUST PLAN CAREFULLY

Although 'the accidental landlord' sounds like a John le Carre novel, the phrase represents an important new sector of the housing market: owners who become landlords temporarily because they can't get an offer anywhere near their asking price.

Richard Davies, Head of Lettings at Chesterton Humberts says: "Before beginning the process, accidental landlords should ask themselves if they really want to rent, or if they'd prefer to cut the asking price by another 10% to get a sale.

"This may not be ideal, but it could save hassle and deliver similar financial returns in the longer term."

However, owners who do decide to look for a tenant for their home should follow this Chesterton checklist:

:: Meet all safety standards on fire safety, plugs, sockets, portable appliances, with gas safety checked by a Corgi engineer.

:: Understand that an Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST) obliges a landlord to honour a minimum tenancy. This usually blocks a quick sale, unless you can sell a property with a tenant inside.

:: Get an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) which is valid for properties in England and Wales for 10 years.

:: Tell your mortgage lender - who may charge a higher rate on a buy-to-let loan.

:: Be realistic in setting the rent: some areas have so many properties available that rents are falling.

:: Beware the taxman: income generated from renting a home is subject to income tax.

:: Think long term: if you only want to rent a property out until a buyer is found, make sure the tenancy is set up in this way.

:: Ask for help: although many estate agents have opened letting operations to survive, there are advantages in using an agent registered with ARLA (The Association of Residential Letting Agents) which has been in the sector for some time.

IS SHOREHAM THE NEXT PROPERTY HOTSPOT?

Few agents operate a franchise operation more successfully than Winkworth, which is taking a concept tried and tested in Central London, out to provincial areas which could see strong growth when the market eventually recovers.

Often armed with local expertise and contacts, Winkworth agents run their own businesses and pay the franchise fee for the back-up of a large operation.

Following on from Basingstoke, the latest and 85th Winkworth branch has just been unveiled in Shoreham-by-Sea, something of a 'Brighton overspill' area and 80 minutes by train from London.

The town has one of the largest Farmers' Markets in Southern England, and daily flights to France from its airport.

Winkworth's franchisee in Shoreham-by-Sea is Michelle Lloyd, formerly a provider of Home Improvement Packs (HIPs) and a domestic energy assessor.

If the Tories win the election and carry out their promise to scrap HIPs, Michelle will congratulate herself on her career planning. She's lived in the area for 32 years, and went to school there.

She gives these guideline prices in Shoreham:

:: Studio: £85,000 - 100,000. Monthly rent £450-575.

:: One-bedroom flat: £100,000 - 155,000. Rent £500-750.

:: Two-bedroom flat: £175,000 - 250,000. Rent £700-900.

:: Three-bedroom flat: £190,000+. Rent £900-1,200.

:: Three-bedroom house: £210,000+. Rent £950-1,400.

:: Four-bedroom house: £250,000+. Rent £1,200+.

With the necessary injection of a celeb or two, Shoreham-by-Sea might have what it takes to be the next 'hotspot', if that word ever makes a re-appearance.

ends