The RICS House Market Survey for September, released yesterday, shows a continuing disparity between the housing market in London and the rest of the country.
The UK as a whole saw a headline net price balance staying the same in September to August, at -23. This means that 23% more RICS surveyors recorded prices falling as opposed to prices rising.
As with most of the year though, most of the respondents who saw failing prices, did so within the small 0-2% range, rather than in larger falls.
Regional Difference
London continues to be the only region seeing price rises, with a net balance of +25 – with has subdued since last month of +37. Scotland was only just negative.
The worst areas reported were the East and West Midlands, with some massive negative net price balances of -63 and -58 respectively.
Volume Data
The volume of sales that RICS surveyors reported also fell slightly with a net balance down from +2 to -4. This is the first negative reading since January.
However the average number of sales per surveyor did increase by 3.3% to 14.5 – yet this is well below the long running average of 26.2!
The average amount of stock on surveyors books also increased by 3% to 68.9, leaving the sales to stock ration (a good indicator of market slack) broadly unchanged at 21.1%.
Outlook of the market
The perception of the RICS surveyors as to the outlook in the housing market remains very negative still, though sales expectations remained positive.
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