Uncertainty hits buyer demand and house prices
WEAK demand and a flood of properties onto the market hit house price expectations last month, according to the Royal Institution for Chartered Surveyors (RICS) monthly survey published today.
Only a net 10 per cent of estate agents reported a rise rather than a fall in prices compared to 22 per cent in May.
Buyer interest fell for only the second time since October 2008, reflecting in part heightened uncertainty over the near term outlook for the economy, the RICS said.
But a net 27 per cent of estate agents reported a rise in new instructions – the highest reading since May 2007 – and the average number of stocks on surveyors’ books rose to 67.
Jeremy Leaf, spokesman for the RICS, said: “With the supply of property now beginning to outstrip demand there is a risk of some modest slippage in prices during the second half of the year.”