House sales forecast to stay flat as buyer interest drops for first time in over a year – RICS
Interest from UK house buyers has dropped for the first time since March 2015, as uncertainty plagues the market, according to the latest Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Residential Market Survey.
Following the buy-to-let rush that preceded the 1 April tax rise deadline, and with continued uncertainty caused by the EU Referendum, interest from buyers dropped in April with 22 per cent more chartered surveyors reporting a decline in demand. It reports that the fall in demand is evident across the whole of the UK.
Uncertainty means that sales are forecast to remain flat over the coming three months with the outlook in London significantly worse than other parts of the UK. Twenty two per cent more respondents in London expect sales to fall over the next three months.
However, in the long-term, RICS forecasts that house prices will continue to rise due to the ongoing supply crisis.
Despite the drop in demand from buyers prices have continued to rise, although at a more moderate pace, across the UK in April apart from central London which saw a modest decline.
RICS chief economist, Simon Rubinsohn, said: “Uncertainty is a word that features heavily in the feedback we are receiving from members responding to the survey and is contributing to the flatter trend in the latest data.”