Home » Uncategorised »
Activity in housing market slows for first time since July
This article is an external press release originally published on the Landlord News website, which has now been migrated to the Just Landlords blog.
The housing market in the UK almost stopped during December, as price growth slowed and fewer transactions were made, according to the latest RICS survey.
As residential property price growth slowed, the headline balance of surveyors reporting an increase slipped to 24% from 29% in November.
Setback?
A RICS statement said: ‘Although this suggests prices are still rising firmly, the latest figure does end a run of four successive months of higher house price balances.’[1]
Further findings from the report found that the majority of RICS’ members predict a further slowdown in property price rises and new sales in the opening quarter of 2016.
The statement continued by saying: ‘While it remains to be seen if this is a temporary setback, 1% more chartered surveyors saw a fall rather than a rise in sales last month, and figures for predicted sales over the next three months across the UK also saw a noticeable slow down with only 4% more respondents anticipating an increase in sales during the coming three months down from 18% previously.’[1]
Price falls
London was the only region to see a fall in property values, while the North West of England saw the largest growth.
With price expectations for the next three months softening, RICS believe respondents were more positive on their outlook for the year. 49% of those questioned feel prices will increase during the next 12 months, in comparison to 40% in the last survey.
Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist at RICS, said that the latest survey, ‘provides further evidence that both price and rent pressures are continuing to spread from the more highly valued to more modestly valued parts of the market for good or ill.’[1]
Activity in housing market slows for first time since July
Sluggish
Despite activity falling in the last month, Richard Sexton, director of e.surv, noted that a seasonal slowdown is typical. In addition, he feels that the major problem is supply.
‘New instructions remain sluggish and with annual house prices rising at an unsustainable rate, too many prospective new buyers are being priced out of the market. A new year means new opportunities for change. As we await the government’s Housing White Paper, hopefully further initiative and funding will be applied to help secure home ownership for many hard-working earners,’ Sexton noted.[4]
[1] https://www.propertyinvestortoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2017/1/uk-housing-market-activity-slows-for-first-time-since-july–rics
