News

House prices rise again but weather depresses activity

In January, 32 percent more chartered surveyors reported a rise than a fall in house prices up from 30 percent in December. However, the majority reported that buyer enquiries fell for the first time in 14 months while new instructions dropped for the first time in seven months. 20 percent more reported a fall than a rise in new buyer enquiries down from a positive reading of 18 percent, while a net balance of five percent of chartered surveyors saw a decline in new instructions which compares with a positive balance of 15 percent in December.

The bad weather clearly had a negative impact upon both supply and demand in the housing market with newly agreed sales also falling for the first time in ten months and activity coming to a halt amidst the seasonal chaos.

Surveyors are however optimistic that these negative signs are a reflection of the extreme weather conditions only. Transaction levels fell just slightly in January. The number of sales per surveying firm fell from 19 to 18 while the closely watched sales to stock ratio - a measure of market slack and a lead indicator of future prices - fell for the second successive month.

Activity and interest is likely to pick up in the coming months as the market experiences a spring bounce.