Housing activity continues to fall - RICS11 Aug 2022 10:33
House prices continue to rise although housing market activity is declining sharply, according to the latest survey from The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).
The net balance of surveyors reporting that house prices have risen over the last three months fell to +63 in July, from +65 in June, but exceeded the consensus, +60.
However, new buyer enquiries balance edged up to -25 in July, from -27 in June, but remained well below its average level in the 2010s, +1.
But the impact of the fall in demand on house prices, however, is being cushioned by the scarcity of homes for sale.
Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist, at Pantheon Macroeconomics said: “Housing market activity is declining rapidly, driven by the surge in mortgage rates and the collapse in consumers’ confidence.”