RICS reports increased demand for UK property in November

Tuesday, 13 December 2011 08:07

There was an increase in demand for property among would-be buyers last month, new figures from Rics have shown.

Its latest UK Housing Market survey demonstrates that seven per cent more surveyors reported an increase in new buyer enquiries than a fall in November, the third month in a row this statistic has been positive.

Furthermore, this is the first quarter that upward growth has been witnessed since spring 2010.

Meanwhile, newly-agreed sales also went up in line with this, with 14 per cent more surveyors saying transactions increased than fell last month.

Per branch, sales figures were at their highest since September 2010 at an average of 15.4.

However, Rics housing spokesperson Alan Collett pointed out that the house price balance is still negative, with factors holding back activity listed by surveyors as uncertainty in the economy, unavailability of mortgages and fear of house price falls.

"It is encouraging that buyer interest has edged upwards in the face of the endless diet of negative news from Europe and the turmoil in financial markets. However, a meaningful recovery still seems some way off," he added.

This follows recent figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders, which said that mortgage payments for homeowners in October 2011 were at their most affordable levels since 2004, with low interest rates driving them down to only 12 per cent of income for first-time buyers.

Yesterday, Halifax reported that it expects UK house prices to remain broadly stable in 2012.

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