The housing market bounced back during September following its traditional seasonal slowdown, estate agents said today.

Both the number of potential buyers registered with estate agents and the average number of properties sold per branch increased during the month, following a dip in August.

The National Association of Estate Agents said the figures showed that the recovery in the housing market seen earlier this year was strong enough to survive the seasonal drop in activity during July and August as potential buyers go on holiday.

But it warned that more needed to be done to ensure the recovery continued and it called on the Government to extend the current stamp duty holiday.

Association president Gary Smith said: “The state of the market in September should be a real source of optimism.

“The NAEA predicted that the first positive indicators were strong enough to survive a seasonal dip and we are thankful to have been proved correct. But more needs to be done before we can enter the second phase.”

He called on the Government to consider extending the stamp duty holiday, under which people buying a property for between £125,000 and £175,000 are exempt from the tax until the end of this year, in the same way as it has extended the car scrappage scheme.

Shropshire estate agent Nick Tart said the market in the county had mirrored the national picture.

“The Shropshire Council website tells me that the average house price is £158,743, and clearly by reducing the threshold again, it will have an adverse effect on the market,” he said.

“I agree with the NAEA in that September was much improved, but it is still a very fragile improvement.”

The group’s figures showed that the average number of house hunters registered with estate agents rose to 294 during September after falling to 238 in August.

By Amy Bould