Both buyer enquiries and house sales stagnated in March 2015, while the number of new properties entering the market dropped for the second consecutive month, according to the latest RICS UK Residential Market Survey.
The growing imbalance between supply and demand in most parts of the country, resulted in 21 per cent more surveyors reporting an increase in house prices, compared to 15 per cent of them saying that in February.
The proportion of surveyors expecting a price rise in the next three months in March (15 per cent) was also higher than in February (10 per cent).
Compared to the start of the year when 42 per cent more surveyors reported a decrease in prices, just 13 per cent more surveyors saw prices fall in March and across the whole of the UK, the average surveyor sold 19.5 properties – reflecting activity since autumn- although it remains some way down on where it was in the early part of 2014.
“The boost that was given to the housing market by the Help to Buy scheme has begun to dissipate and activity levels have slipped back.
“It is significant that price expectations nationally are accelerating both at the three and twelve month time horizons and at the latter they are at their highest level since the spring of last year,” Simon Rubinsohn, RICS chief economist, said .
While the current market developments could be seen as just the result of the uncertainty in the run-up to the General Election, however “underlying the trends visible in the latest survey is a very real housing crisis which will urgently need to be addressed by the next government,” Rubinsohn added.
In a nation-wide comparison, Northern Ireland continues to outperform the rest of the UK with the strongest house price growth in March and the highest price expectations over the next three months. However, across much of the rest of the UK, particularly in Wales and Scotland, price gains over the next three months are expected to be much more moderate.
In London, a lack of prospective buyers saw enquiries and the number of agreed sales both fall for the eleventh consecutive month and 24 per cent more surveyors reported a decline in the number of new properties coming onto the market for sale.
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