Home sales up despite low supply
THE HOUSING market’s upswing showed no signs of subsiding last month, with the average homes sold for each chartered surveyor at the highest level since 2008, according to a report published this morning.
According to the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), the imbalance between demand and supply in residential property worsened last month.
Despite a drop in the number of homes going up for sale, 26 per cent more surveyors reported that agreed sales were rising than falling.
Price pressures seem to be spreading from the capital, with more surveyors in the north west of England and East Anglia expecting prices to rise in the next quarter than in London.
“The critical issue for the market remains the lack of second-hand supply with our numbers suggesting that the picture is, if anything, getting worse,” said RICS chief economist Simon Rubinsohn.
“It is too early to conclude whether this will undermine the positive trend in transactions volumes, but clearly the absence of properties to buy will ultimately be a factor in influencing the ability of people to move homes,” he added.