Numbers planning to move halve in a year Demand in the short term for property has fallen further since the events of 11 September - and almost halved since January 2001 - according to new findings from Alliance & Leicester's quarterly moving improving index.

Rather than track historic house price trends, Alliance & Leicester's study tracks people's intentions to move house in the future. For most of 2000 and 2001 the proportion of people planning to move house within twelve months stayed at around 9%. Autumn research conducted either side of 11 September was the first to demonstrate a substantial fall in homebuyer confidence - a fall from 9% to 6% within a week of 11 September. The A&L index reveals that people's intention to move within a year has dropped again to 5%. This is the lowest figure since the index started in the summer of 2000.

However, overall confidence remains good with the proportion of people planning to move in the longer term (1-2 years) up to 8% - an increase on the 6% level of a year ago.

The latest in a series of quarterly reports, A&L asked a GB representative sample of 4,000 people whether they were intending to move and if so when.

Key findings:

• Whilst intentions to move in the next 12 months have hit an all-time low (5%), there are encouraging signs for the longer term. The proportion of people looking to move in the longer term (1-2 years) has increased to 8% - compared to 6% for the same period last year. This suggests that home owners are postponing their next move but continue to have confidence in the medium to longer term.
• Despite the overall mood of homebuyers, there are signs that the Spring could still be a lively period for first time buyers. People in their 20's are driving demand for property - with 10% planning a move in the next year and a further 17% in the next 1-2 years. (19% men and 15% women). · Only 2% of people in their 60s and 4% of people in their 50s were planning a move in the next 12 months.
• The South East and North West are the only regions to buck the national trend with 7% of people in both these regions planning a move in the next 12 months. Northerners are least likely to be planning a move within 12 months (3%).
• Over the longer term (1-2 years) people in the West Midlands are most likely to be planning a move (10%) and the Welsh are least likely (5%)

Reasons for moving:

• The need for more space is still the dominant factor (27%) with half of these people (50%) wanting more bedrooms. 49% of buyers aged 16-19 years want their independence and 43% of buyers over 60 want a smaller house.
• Men are almost twice as likely as women to be moving to make money on their property (10% v 6%).

Geoff Mozley, Head of Mortgages at Alliance & Leicester commented: "2001 was a record year for mortgage market loans and there has been much speculation over what will happen in 2002 given current economic factors and recent world events. The latest survey results point to a short term decline in the numbers of property transactions and an increased willingness for homeowners to invest in improvements to their properties. However, overall signs for the future are encouraging."