RICS national housing survey paints grim picture

The housing market continues to struggle and few expect things to change soon.

August 14, 2012

Sales of homes are at a four year low, every region except London is seeing price falls, unsold houses on estate agents’ books highest since last November. These are just some of the rather worrying findings of the latest Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) national housing survey. Moreover, a majority of respondents expect prices to continue to fall in the near future.

RICS have tried to pick what scraps of hope they can from their own survey. It insists that wet weather has not deterred potential buyers because only a further five per cent of surveyors reported falls in demand in July compared to June. Hardly a cause for celebration. The average sales per surveyor per branch also fell to just over 15. This is in stark contrast to the peak of approximately 40 properties per surveyor in 2002. The amount of stock surveyors have on their book edged up as sales to stock ratios fell from 22.9% to 22.2%.

If you want to read the RICS press release and the full report click here.