Okay, I know this is the property section of the paper and not the sports pages. I know you are reading my monthly article about the property market because, presumably, you have an interest in property matters and not because you want to know my thoughts about the collapse of one of our most famous local football teams.

But how can I possibly drum up the enthusiasm to pen a meaningful article about selling houses when my spirit has been crushed and I have been plunged into a bottomless pit of despair by the relegation of my team, Wolverhampton Wanderers, to what is by any other name the third division of the football league?

How on earth could it have come to this? Little more than a year ago Wolves were dining at the top table in the Premier League, having not only played but actually beaten several giants of the English game, including Chelsea, Liverpool and even the mighty Manchester United.

Indeed, for a brief moment last season Wolves actually sat at the very top of the best league in the world. So how could it be that little more than a year later the same bunch of players could capitulate so dismally, surrendering to two successive relegations without as much as a whimper, never mind a fight? So, will I be renewing my season ticket at Molineux after witnessing this shambles of a season? I’ll tell you in August.

So much for football, but ‘what about the property market?’ you may well ask.

Happily, it has been a much better time to be an estate agent than a Wolves supporter, over the last twelve months or so. Spring last year saw the market burst into life after five years in the doldrums. Prices may not have risen, but activity levels and the number of houses sold have increased sharply. And so far this year, I’m pleased to say that spring 2013 has been even busier than last year.

In fact over the last couple of months, I have been so busy that it really does feel as if a state of near normality has returned to the property market. Certainly there is clear evidence on every street corner now that houses are selling again, and numbers of viewings are running at their highest level for several years.

Interest rates look set to remain at rock bottom for the foreseeable future and house prices appear to be close to bottoming out. These settled conditions are breeding rapidly-increasing confidence amongst buyers and sellers, with the result that we now have a very stable and active marketplace.

With all these signs of optimism emerging, I am often asked when we might begin to see house prices rising again. Probably before we see Wolves back in the Premier League, is my usual reply!