New buyer enquiries and agreed sales have improved, but remain relatively weak, according to the latest RICS UK Residential Market Survey.
The survey results for August show that a relatively challenging backdrop remains, with activity indicators still in negative territory, albeit gradually improving from the lows recorded earlier in the year.
RICS says that the macroeconomic environment remains difficult, and that recent changes in interest rate expectations are likely to have a negative impact on signs of recovery across the sales market. However, the survey’s participants foresee a slight improvement in sales volumes over the year ahead, with a more stable picture emerging for activity in the near term.
New buyer enquiries returned to a net balance reading of -19% in August, which demonstrates the proportion of respondents reporting a rise in prices minus those reporting a fall. RICS says that, while this remains consistent with soft underlying momentum for buyer demand, it represents the least negative reading since January, having become progressively less downbeat in each of the past five survey results.
In terms of agreed sales, the latest net balance reading of -17% remained consistent with a subdued backdrop, but marks the least negative figure since February and has continued to move away from the recent low of -38% recorded in April.
Looking ahead, the near-term sales expectations measure returned a net balance of -3%, up from -13% previously, which RICS says signals a largely stable short-term outlook.
Further out, a net balance of +6% of contributors expect sales volumes to increase over the next twelve months, representing a modest improvement on the +3% reading recorded last month.
In terms of supply coming onto the market, the new instructions indicator registered a net balance reading of zero this month, compared with -2% in July. As such, the latest results suggest that the flow of new listings has been broadly flat in recent months.
