Housing market sees post-Brexit slowdown

A new report has revealed that the UK housing market slowed slightly following the Brexit vote. However, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) believes that the market could well take off again in the next year.

The investigation from RICS revealed that house prices in Britain slowed substantially during the three months to the end of July. In addition, new buyer inquiries, property sale transactions and new instructions also slipped.

More pleasingly, there was renewed confidence in commercial property.

Resilience

In the residential property market, the number of surveyors that recorded price increases fell to its lowest for 3 years. This meant they outnumbered price falls by 5%, in comparison to a margin of 15% evident in June.

Prices were found to have fallen outright in London, East Anglia, the North and the West Midlands.

RICS said that results from the survey suggest that house price inflation could rise within a year. One month ago, just after the historic Brexit decision, surveyors were divided on what would happen to prices in the next twelve months.

Housing market sees post-Brexit slowdown

Now, 23% believe that values will increase over the period. This said, any such growth is likely to be modest in comparison to last year.

A separate survey from commercial property company CBRE reveals that demand for office space in the capital has recovered since the vote. The amount of space taken by businesses in London rose to fractionally under a million square feet in July, a 24% rise on June’s figures.

Subdued

Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist at RICS, said, ‘it’s not altogether surprising that near-term activity measures remain relatively flat. However, the rebound in the key 12-month indicators in the July survey suggests that confidence remains more resilient than might have been anticipated.’[1]

[1] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37037964