UK house prices continued on an upward march in June though the number of new inquiries from house hunters decreased, according to new data.
Survey results from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) show that 27 percent of property professionals reported a fall in interest from would-be buyers last month. It marked the third month in a row that interest from new buyers slipped.
But London appears to be more resilient, with 7 percent of respondents reporting an uptick in enquiries in June.
An easing in demand from new buyers has seen the volume of sales dip. Some 13 percent of respondents reported a fall in newly agreed sales and 9 percent anticipate a fall in transactions for the coming three months.
Despite the cooling in demand, however, house prices continued to rise because of a lack of available properties for buyers to choose from.
Some 65 percent of respondents said they saw an increase in house prices in June. Though this is down from the April high of 78 percent, it is comfortably above the long-run average of 13 percent, said RICS.
Housing Shortage
RICS Chief Economist Simon Rubinsohn commented, “Pricing across much of the housing market remains resilient for now with a shortage of stock continuing to be a feature highlighted by many respondents to the survey.”“Although buyer inquiries have predictably slipped a little of late, this needs to be placed in the context of the healthy level of demand in previous months,” he said.
Jonathan Hale, head of government affairs for the UK and Ireland at RICS, said that the next government must address the “further decline in housing availability.”
“Regardless of who is set to become the next PM, and indeed how their Cabinet will look, housing needs to be prioritised,” he said, adding that RICS “has long called for planning reform and greater deployment of modern methods of construction to support an increase in housing supply.”
Because of the continued imbalance between supply and demand, rents are also expected to rise, RICS said.
Some 36 percent of housing professionals reported an increase in tenant demand, while 11 percent saw a fall in the number of new landlord instructions. And 52 percent predicted that rents will rise over the coming three months.
