More homes on the market and less buyers looking to buy mean prices are stalling, according to the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) housing market survey for June 2010.
Only 10% of surveyors reported house price rises for the month – compared to 22% for May.
RICS concludes that despite some price rises, the market is standing still in most regions except London and Scotland.
The survey showed two key indicators:
- 5% more surveyors reported a fall rather than a rise in new buyer enquires – down from 8% in May. This contrasts with a sustained rise in supply. The net balance of surveyors reporting rises in new instructions has remained in positive for 13 successive months.
- 27% more surveyors reported a rise than fall in new instructions, up from 22% in May and the highest reading since May 2007 when the net balance was 44%.
The increase is supply means 4% more surveyors surveyors expect prices to fall in the coming months.
More positively, the larger number of properties coming to the market should help bolster activity which has been depressed partly because of a lack of choice for home buyers.
During June, the average number of completed sales remained static but the average number of homes on surveyor’s books rose by five to 67.
RICS spokesman Jeremy Leaf said: “A shortage of stock has been one factor holding back transaction activity in the housing market but the abolition of HIPS is helping to belatedly address this issue.
“This is likely to be reflected in higher sales numbers over the coming months. However, with 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.”
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