Interesting report on the BBC today about how RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) is viewing the latest property market. The headline says ‘property market stagnating’ but what does that really mean? The cause for this headline is the latest monthly data on stock levels – ie houses available for sale.
on average, each estate agent has just 43 properties for sale on its books, the lowest number recorded since the methodology began in 1994
They also say that the number of people registering to buy and the actual number of sales is way down. They did say however
because of the shortage of housing, it said prices in many parts of the UK are continuing to accelerate.
As usual there is a north/south divide with prices dropping in central London but being quite strong in the North West.
There is no sign of immediate relief
“For the time being, it is hard to see any major impetus for change in the market, something also being reflected in the flat trend in transaction levels.”
Earlier this week, the Office for National Statistics said house prices grew at 5.8% in the year to February, a small rise on the previous month. However, both Nationwide and the Halifax have said that house price inflation is moderating.