Property sales edged up in October
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Housing market activity picked up in October, with both property sales and buyer demand increasing, according to the latest housing market survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
In October, 8% more chartered surveyors reported that newly agreed sales rose rather than fell, representing a rebound in activity after the past month’s fall of 3% and the best reading since April 2010.
Some surveyors attributed this increase to growing realism from sellers, who appear to be more willing to take lower offers to secure a sale.
Completed sales also rose slightly, to an average of 15 per surveyor, over the past three months. While still muted, this represents the strongest level since April.
However, surveyors say that banks are taking a long time to agree lending terms for mortgage finance, which is slowing down the purchase process.
New buyer enquiries edged up to a net balance of +7%, up from +4 in September, while new instructions increased from a net balance of -4% to +3% in October.
Despite this rise in both supply and demand, surveyors say that economic uncertainty in Europe and restricted mortgage availability are still having an impact on the market, making buyers cautious.
Prices dipped slightly in October, with 24% more surveyors reporting prices fell rather than rose, up from 23% more in September.
However, more than half of all respondents indicated that prices were stable and of those reporting a decline, almost three quarters said the fall was between 0 and 2%.
London continues to be the only region recording rising prices, but demand for property is strongest in the South East and the North West.
Ian Perry, a housing spokesman at RICS, says: “It is encouraging that activity levels appear to have edged upwards over the past month. Indeed, chartered surveyors are generally upbeat about the near-term prospects for transactions.
“However, with the chaotic events in the euro area threatening to spillover to the UK and banks still imposing tough conditions on loans to first-time buyers, any recovery in sales is still likely to be relatively modest. This will inevitably leave many people who would like to own a home unable to access the market.”
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