Monday, June 18, 2012
House sales per surveyor across the UK are almost 40% lower than
five years ago at the peak of the boom, says the latest RICS UK
Housing Market survey (11 June 2012).
During May, the average number of completed sales per surveyor*
was 15.6. This represents almost a 40% drop from May 2007's figure
of 25.4 and goes some way towards illustrating the extent to which
market activity has fallen in recent years.
With transactions down, and affordable mortgage finance now
harder to come by, homes are taking considerably longer to sell.
Indeed, during the three months to May, surveyors sold 23.1% of the
homes on their books, a significant fall from the same period in
2007 (40.9%).
Looking ahead, Chartered Surveyors expect transaction levels to
see a slight upturn over the coming three months, with a net
balance 9% more respondents predicting rises, while expectations
for future prices remain squarely in negative territory.
Prices continued to fall last month as 16% more respondents
reported falls rather than rises in prices. This reading has now
been in negative territory since June 2010.
Across the UK , the results in most parts of the country were
consistent, with prices edging downwards last month. The capital
once again outperformed the rest of the country as the only area to
record more surveyors reporting increasing rather than decreasing
prices.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the amount of homes coming on to the
market and the level of new buyer interest were both similar to
April, as respondents reported flat net balances of -3% and -1%
respectively.
"It's no surprise to see such a sizeable drop in
transactions since the market peak back in 2007. Ongoing economic
instability in the UK and overseas has continued to undermine
consumer confidence, and the reluctance of many banks to offer
affordable mortgage products has created something of a stagnant
market.
"In spite of this, a gradual stability is returning to the
market and surveyors expect transaction levels to increase over the
coming months, even if prices continue to dip across most parts of
the country." said Peter Bolton King, RICS Housing
Spokesperson