HOUSING experts in Taunton Deane and West Somerset say house prices in the region have remained stable in the light of positive new reports on the state of the industry.

A report from monitoring body Hometrack published last week said that 31% of post codes across the UK had seen an increase in prices – but experts say the market in Somerset remains stable and warned against sellers being over-optimistic in their asking prices.

Michael Dukes, of Greenslade Taylor Hunt, said: “At the moment the jury is still out as far as price rises locally are concerned.

“We are seeing increased activity and increased sales and almost inevitably that in the short to medium term will see price increases. At the moment, we are still seeing that the market is very price sensitive. If you are too optimistic, you will get found out.”

David McCaffrey of Wilkie May and Tuckwood said: “We have seen an increase in activity, with deals being made and agreed. As a general rule of thumb at estate agents, August will be relatively quiet because it is the holiday season, but September and October are normally very good.

“The next four weeks will be quiet, but then we’ll see a flurry of activity. I still think Taunton is pretty stable.”

Jonathan Southgate of Yule Property Specialists agrees. He said: “The market is quite healthy, but with an air of caution around it. It is still pretty price sensitive, but at the moment it is stable.”

The market in Minehead appears to have been exempt from the increase, according to Kevin Prescott, manager at Webbers Estate Agents.

He said: “The prices haven’t gone up here.

“Activity levels are rising and we have had a good June, and July has started well. But the prices haven’t gone up because Minehead is a retirement area and people don’t have the need to move.”

Hometrack is an independent property analytics business providing information based solutions to the UK housing and mortgage industries.

The national monthly housing market survey is based on a monthly survey of estate agents and surveyors across all postcode districts across England and Wales.