UK Housing Market Stabilisation Hopes Emerge as Buyer Inquiries Stop Worsening, But Sales and Prices Continue to Fall – Rics

A net balance of 34 percent of property professionals reported that new buyer inquiries were falling in May, the first time since January that the reading had not moved further into negative territory, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said.

The fall in agreed sales remained unchanged at a net balance of 37 percent of professionals seeing sales decline. 5 weeks, the longest period recorded since Rics began tracking the metric in 2017.

A net balance of 35 percent of professionals reported overall house price falls. Downward pressure was more pronounced in the South East and East Anglia, while professionals in Northern Ireland continued to record firm price growth. A small balance of 2 percent of professionals expect sales to rise over the next 12 months.

A balance of 6 percent expect house prices to be higher in the year ahead. Tarrant Parsons, Rics head of market research and analysis, said the latest survey data suggest the recent downturn in activity may be beginning to stabilise, with several key indicators broadly holding steady.

Mortgage rates jumped amid economic uncertainty prompted by the conflict in the Middle East, though some lenders have cut rates in recent weeks.

6 percent a year earlier. In areas where average rents are £750 per month or less, rents rose 5 percent on average, more than twice the national rate. Rics noted that the rental market remains under pressure from rising tenant demand and falling landlord instructions.