The latest UK Housing Market Survey by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) says that interest from would be buyers held firm in July despite the bad weather. However, the number of homes being put up for sale continued to fall with fewer vendors wanting to test the summer market.
The Nationwide building society’s survey also reported reduced activity and showed that the price of a typical UK house fell by 0.7% in July. It said the price of the average house is now £164,389 – 2.6% lower than the same time last year.
Despite the falling figures, a spokesman for RICS said most surveyors were cautiously optimistic that the number of transactions would increase over the next three months. However, they also expected prices to continue to fall slightly rather than increase.
Peter Bolton King, RICS Global Residential Director, said: “Fewer sellers are putting their homes up for sale and the ongoing problem of accessing affordable finance is not helping. If vendors want to sell their homes quickly, they will have to be realistic in their price expectations.”
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