-RICS UK July net house price balance -24 vs -22 in June
LONDON (MNI) – House prices in July saw their most widespread falls
since the middle of last year and newly agreed sales dropped to a near
four-year low, according to a survey by the Royal Institution of
Chartered Surveyors.
The headline net price balance for the three months to July fell to
-24 from -22 in June, the lowest reading since the -27 recorded in June
last year, while the newly agreed sales balance dropped to -20 from -13
in June, its lowest reading since August 2008. The survey found the
scale of house price falls was only slight but they are
becoming more common.
The headline RICS house price balance climbed to -10 in March this
year, ahead of the expiry of the stamp duty holiday, but has dropped
sharply since then, hitting -19 in April and now -24.
The price balance, based on those surveyors recording falls and
rises in prices, measures the dispersion but not the magnitude of price
moves. RICS said 61% of respondents reported unchanged prices for the
three months through July and 73% of those reporting falls said they
were in a 0 to -2% range, showing the price declines are modest.
The activity indicators portray a slowing market.
Along with the weak newly agreed sales outturn, average sales per
surveyor’s branch dipped to 15.4 in July from 15.1 in June, whilst
average stocks on surveyors’ books per branch nudged higher to 68 from
67.5. The sales-to-stock ratio fell from 22.9% to 22.2%, its weakest
reading since November 2011.
There was a pick-up, however, in buyer enquiries. The new buyer
enquiries net balance rose to -5 from -10.
Respondents expected the extent of price declines to be little
changed in coming months. The three-month ahead price expectations
balance fell to -23 from -18.
Peter Bolton King, RICS housing spokesperson, highlighted the
improvement in buyer enquiries, but the broader picture is one of a
subdued housing market.
“Despite the terrible weather seen in many parts of the country
last month, a steady number of potential buyers still got out there to
test the market. However, this didn’t result in a higher level of actual
transactions. Fewer sellers are putting their homes up for sale and the
ongoing problem of accessing affordable finance is not helping,” he
said.
The Bank of England and the Treasury launched their Funding for
Lending Scheme this month, to try ease credit conditions, but it is a
moot point if it will feed through into the mortgage market.
-London newsroom 0044 207 862 7491; email: drobinson@marketnews.com
[TOPICS: M$B$$$,MABDS$]
