House Price Growth Stills Shows Downward Trend (Property Advice)

House price growth continued to slow in July, while key indicators covering price expectations, buyer enquirers, agreed sales and new instructions all remained firmly negative, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Property Advice).

Its residential market survey found of all member respondents nationally, just 5 per cent save a rise rather than fall in prices last month a downward trend that is evident across the UK. The London price indicator remains more downbeat, with a net balance of -33 per cent, which is broadly consistent with an outright drop in prices in the capital.

As price growth slowed, near-term price expectations across the UK were negative for the third month in succession with 12 per cent more respondents predicting a decline in house prices over the next three months.

As actively faltered, interest from new buyers in the UK also continued to wane, and the results showed a fourth consecutive month of falling demand (Property Advice).

Lack of stock in the housing market also continued to cause ripples, with new instructions falling again in July.

Of respondents to the survey; a third saw a fall in new instructions and supply is around record lows in most parts of the UK (Property Advice).

In line with the dip in demand, and the worsening supply position, sales declined sharply. Across the UK just over a third more respondents reported a fall in transactions, with the monthly pace of decline in July and June at its fastest since 2008.

Anecdotal reports provided by contributors to the survey suggested that the stamp duty tax charge and the ongoing fallout from the EU referendum are contributing to the current mood in the market (Property Advice).

(FTadviser, 2016)