However, the firm blamed the lack of government action to support the housing market for the flat property market it expects to see this year.
The firm produced an 8% increase in revenue to the end of March at £122.6m and £524.6m over the year to date.
Grenville Turner, chief executive of Countrywide, the UK’s largest property services Group said: “We have seen an encouraging start to 2012 with all divisions contributing to an improved financial result, in fact our strongest Q1 financial result since 2007. These results do support the view that our strategy to ‘do more to get Britain moving’ is having an impact.”
But Turner added many factors could disrupt the market this year, including the Olympics, Euro 2012 and the Diamond Jubilee.
However, mortgage inaccessibility and mortgage affordability remain the biggest problems for the housing market and the younger generation in particular, said Countrywide.
“We are currently at a crossroads for homeownership. With the market operating at half the long-term average. We call on the Government to take effective action to boost the residential housing market as the risk of a further drop is increasing,” it said.
“Although, the timing of a significant market recovery remains unpredictable, we will continue to invest and lay the foundations to capitalise on future valuable opportunities supported as always by award-winning teams, innovative marketing campaigns and a strong online presence.”
In March, Countrywide’s financial services division reported a 66% increase in profit in 2011, with pre-tax earnings rising to £9.4m compared to £5.7m in 2010.
Its annual results show that revenue in its financial services division also increased, up by 10% to £62.1m last year.
Countrywide said that its strong financial position was assisted by the roll out of mortgage administration fees across the business and the acquisition of Mortgage Intelligence in April 2011.
Total group earnings before tax rose 10% to £56.4m in 2011, up from £51.5m in 2010, while total group revenue grew 7% to £509.1m in 2011.
