-RICS UK May net house price balance -16 vs -19 in April
LONDON (MNI) – UK real estate agents reported a slightly improved
trend in house prices in May as housing market activity remained broadly
stable, according to the latest RICS Housing Market Survey.
The headline price net balance for the three months to May rose to
-16 from -19 in the three months to April, pretty much in line with
economists’ forecasts for a -17 reading. This report ties in with a raft
of other recent UK housing market surveys which are all pointing to
broadly flat prices.
Whilst the headline price balance is negative, the non-seasonally
adjusted breakdown that underpins that balance shows that 67% of
surveyors reported no change in prices and of those surveyors reporting
price falls, 70% of them are doing so within a range of 0 to -2%.
The headline RICS house price index is a measure of the dispersion,
rather than magnitude, of price movements.
RICS said that housing market activity was more or less stable in
May, but added that there has been a clear loss of momentum following
the expiry of the stamp exemption for first time buyers (for properties
costing less than stg250,000) at the end of March.
“Indeed, the deadline has had the effect of bringing forward
housing purchases into Q1 at the expense of Q2,” RICS said.
The report shows that average sales levels per branch fell by 2.6%
in the three months to May to 15.6, while average stocks on surveyors
books fell by 0.2% to 67.8. This had the mechanical effect of pushing
down the sales-to-stock ratio, a key indicator of market slack, from
23.6% to 23.1% in May, which is considerably less than the long run
average of 33%.
Other housing market surveys have also showed housing prices to be
broadly flat. Halifax’s May survey showed house prices recovered some of
the ground they lost in April and were near flat on the year. Data from
Nationwide showed UK house prices rose 0.3% on the month in May
following a 0.3% drop in April and a report from Rightmove showed the
average asking price of property remains unchanged on the month.
Commenting on the data, Peter Bolton King, RICS housing
spokesperson, said:
“Ongoing economic instability in the UK and overseas has continued
to undermine consumer confidence, and the reluctance of many banks to
offer affordable mortgage products has created something of a stagnant
market.”
-London newsroom 0044 207 862 7491; email:wwilkes@marketnews.com
[TOPICS: M$B$$$,M$BDS$,MABDS$]
