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April's annual fall is a modest improvement from the 10.3 percent decline recorded in March, which was a survey low, and leaves the achievable price of a home at 155,600 pounds, it said.

Hometrack said the slowdown in the monthly rate of decline to 0.3 percent from 0.6 percent in March reflected an increase in optimism from estate agents driven by increased levels of market activity.

However, it said it was too early to call a revival of the housing market, and warned the improvements in April's survey may be seasonal.

Recent housing market data have been mixed: official figures suggest that approvals for home loans have edged up from record lows, but surveys from mortgage lenders Nationwide and Halifax sent opposing signals on house prices last month.

Analysts reckon the housing market will remain under pressure for some time yet as rising unemployment and tough borrowing conditions deter people from entering the property market.

"Only when first-time buyers feel confident to enter the market in significant numbers can we really start to claim any "real" green shoots of recovery," said Hometrack director of research Richard Donnell.

"This suggests to us that the recent pick-up in demand is largely seasonal and unlikely to be sustained over the rest of the year."

Still, the survey did showed improvement in a number of indicators.

The number of sales agreed in April rose by nearly 15 percent after a rise of 18.6 percent in March, while the number of prospective buyers registering with estate agents rose by 6 percent in April after an 8.5 percent rise in March.

"The increase in demand, together with a move to more realistic pricing, has supported a growth in the number of sales," according to the survey.

The average time it took to sell a property fell to 10.4 weeks -- the lowest since June 2008 -- from 11.3 weeks in the March survey.

Sellers achieved 89.6 percent of their asking prices on average, the highest since last September, after 88.8 percent in March.

And house price falls were less widespread than a month ago, with only 30 percent of postcode districts recording a fall in prices, the smallest proportion since March 2008, after 50 percent last month.

Source:  http://uk.reuters.com/