Daily News
RICS Housing Market Survey
The balance between supply and demand shifted toward the supply side as the new instructions net balance outpaced buyer interest for the second consecutive month, says RICS UK Housing Market Survey.
It was the same picture in the North East where a significant increase in the numbers of new homes being put up for sale coincided with a rise in the number of chartered surveyors reporting and expecting falling prices.
While the North East was one of the few regions in the UK where more chartered surveyors report prices falling than rising, the net balance difference is very slight, increasing from -1 to -2. By far the majority of surveyors report that prices have not changed.
All other measures in the North East have improved in the past month. The number of surveyors expecting prices to go up in the next three months has increased from a net balance of 3 to 19. Sales expectations are up from a net balance of 19 to 36, new buyer enquiries up from 3 to 37, new buyer instructions went into positive territory for the first time this year going to 9 from -17. Although newly agreed sales are also up, the average number of property sales per surveyor remains at 18, slightly higher than the national average of 17.6.
RICS North East housing market spokesperson and director at Rook Matthews Sayer, Richard Sayer, commented: “Agents across the region confirm the welcome news that both instructions and new buyer enquiries are sharply up in February. After over two years of low supply and activity, it is great to see the market strengthening.
“We are not worried that increasing supply will lead to price falls, as the supply is currently at a very low point and needs to return to more normal levels. It is also important to acknowledge that sellers are becoming buyers once their home is under offer - this is clear evidence that the public is returning to the market because they feel that the time is right after a year of stable prices in the North East. All agents are reporting increased activity which should grow throughout the spring.”
Across the UK, new instruction and new buyer enquiries rebounded in February following a weather skewed dip in January with both net balances turning positive. For the second consecutive month the new instructions net balance outpaced the new buyer enquiries net balance - the first sustained shift towards supply for two years. Seven percent more chartered surveyors reported a rise than fall in new buyer enquiries compared with the previous month up from a negative reading of 20 percent while a net balance of 15 percent of surveyors saw a rise in new instructions which compares with a negative balance of five percent in January.
17 percent more chartered surveyors reported a rise than a fall in house prices down from 31 percent in January. Surveyors in the regions are still reporting house price gains in most areas but the net balances are a little less positive than they were. However, surveyors in the North, Yorkshire and Humberside, Wales and the West Midlands are reporting house price falls.
The price expectations net balance also remains in positive territory but the latest reading is the lowest since July 2009. Meanwhile, the closely-watched sales to stock ratio is also beginning to edge lower which is consistent with the housing market becoming a little less tight.