Buyers face slim pickings as market supply still limited
Buyers have slim pickings when it comes to the housing market, with a continued lack of supply of homes on the market.
There was a more stable trend in buyer demand in September, after a brief pull-back following the frenzy around the stamp duty holiday.
Data from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RCIS) showed a lack of stock, with 35 per cent of respondents reporting a further fall in instructions last monj.
The number of appraisals undertaken was below the rate seen twelve months earlier, respondents described.
Some 11 per cent more respondents this month anticipated an increase in sales expectations, up from a six per cent jump in August.
Buyers are facing hot competition, resulting in upward pressure on prices.
The national reading for house prices posted a net balance of a 68 per cent growth, RCIS said.
This has eased since May when 82 per cent more respondents said house prices were growing.
RICS chief economist, Simon Rubinsohn, said an imbalance between demand and supply remained the “most striking theme” from the data.
“Feedback from members provides little reason to believe this issue will be resolved anytime soon,” he added.
He added: “Delivering higher numbers of new homes is part of the answer but it is critical they are built in the areas where the shortfall is most visible. It is also vital that the tenure mix of the supply pipeline is broadly based [on] helping to address the challenges both in the private rental market and in social housing.”