UK House Prices To Rise Marginally; Sales To Stagnate: RICS

(RTTNews) - UK house prices are set to rise marginally over the coming twelve months and sales to broadly stagnant, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said Thursday. House prices are forecast to rise over the coming twelve months with the net balance falling to 9 percent, the least elevated since December 2023, RICS said in its August Residential Market Survey report.

Due to weaker buyer demand, house prices came under downward pressure in August. The headline house price gauge slid to -19 percent from -13 percent in the previous month.

For the coming three months, respondents envisaged house prices to edge down at the aggregate level. The balance fell to -20 percent.

Regarding new buyer enquiries, a net balance of -17 percent said a further deterioration in August compared to -7 percent in July.

Agreed sales also decreased at a sharper pace. The corresponding net sales slipped to -24 percent from -17 percent in the prior month. Looking ahead, sales activity is expected to remain broadly flat in the coming three months with a net balance reading at -2 percent.

The balance regarding the new vendor instructions came in at -3 percent in August. The reading signals the first occasion since June 2024 when the reading fell below zero.