I have a permanent short list of 'saved properties' on RightMove.
Permanent, that is, in the sense that it has rarely changed from one
month to the next over the past year. Now things are different! In the
last couple of weeks there have been six properties turning red for
sold, all different - some houses, some bungalows, various prices,
various locations (though all in Lincolnshire). This included one
bungalow, one of my favourites, being sold ten days ago, then coming
back on the market, and today being marked as sold again!

So I would suggest that the housing market IS at last picking up and
that the latest optimism from the Halifax and others is well-founded.

MM