There was an acceleration in the year on year growth of property valuations during April 2013 according to chartered surveyors Connells.

John Bagshaw, Corporate Services Director of Connells, said: “Increased activity in April may demonstrate a crystallising sense of optimism in the housing market. This is the seventh month in a row of annual growth, the latest link in a lengthening chain of good news. It can in some part be attributed to Funding for Lending which started to work through the system in October. March was the strongest month for valuations since 2007, so even faster annual growth in April is only encouraging. It would seem that things are finally starting to look sunnier, as lenders’ balance sheets are more buoyant and government incentives help a wider range of borrowers gain access to finance. Certainly, the strongest April in six years is a good foothold for the rest of the year.”

April also saw the highest number of valuations for first time buyers since 2007 with 40% more valuations on behalf of first time buyers than a year ago. This compares to 33% year-on-year growth in March.

Remortgaging activity also grew with valuations now 55% higher than a year ago (despite a seasonal fall of 27% compared to March). In a similar vein, buy-to-let valuations remain 27% above the level of April 2012.

Bagshaw said: “New buyers are of growing importance to the valuations market, as lenders report a record proportion of first time buyers taking out mortgages.

“Meanwhile, cheaper buy-to-let deals help landlords to increase the supply of rental property, and compared to previous years when repayments were rising, these deals put less upwards pressure on rents. For all those reasons, this activity is as important economically as any other type of valuation, and underpins current progress.”