Money News
With interest rate rises beginning to bite new buyer enquiries declined at their fastest pace since August 2004, with the stock of unsold property on surveyors' books increasing to its highest level since January 2007. So says RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) in it latest (July) housing market survey.
House prices rose for the 21st consecutive month, but the rate of growth remained well below the survey's long run average of 21.6%, for the second consecutive month. But against this backdrop, 12.6% more Chartered Surveyors reported a rise than a fall in house prices, up from 10.6% in June.
In England, the London juggernaut continued to outperform all other regions with the strongest price rises. Elsewhere, Northern Ireland maintained its impressive run, but price growth in the Scottish market almost halved.
Meanwhile, the ratio of completed sales to the stock of available property on the market fell for the fourth consecutive month but remained in line with the survey's long run average of 37%.
Completed property sales for the quarter to July fell to 23.5 per surveyor, down from 24.4 in June. Surveyor confidence in sales turned negative for the first time since March 2003 as buyers responded to market conditions and a possible sixth interest rate rise.
RICS spokesman, Jeremy Leaf, said: "The combination of softening demand and supply is causing market conditions to weaken further. Buyer activity has pulled back a little over fears that we may have seen the top of the market.
"With interest rates perched at 5.75% and a jump to 6% a strong possibility, aspiring first-time-buyers are continuing to rent until the market trend becomes clearer."
14 August 2007 © Moneyextra.com
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