NEW instructions, buyer enquiries and overall sales continue to decline in the East Midlands according to respondents of the May 2017 RICS UK Residential Market Survey.
The sheer lack of supply continues to worsen, with new sales instructions falling further, supporting price growth across the region in a trend dating back for almost two years.
In May, 22 per cent more chartered surveyors expect house sales across the region to fall in the coming three months. With the General Election being suggested as the main cause for the subdued expectations, others anecdotal evidence suggests fewer buy-to-let investors and general uncertainty over Brexit as reasons for a lacklustre market.
While a fall in new instructions is not a new theme, this month 64 per cent more respondents reported a fall in new properties coming on to the market compared to a net balance of -38 per cent in April.
Despite the subdued picture in terms of sales and instructions prices continue to remain buoyant in the interim with 48 per cent more respondents reporting price rises in the past month. However, due to the above listed challenges future price expectations are starting to soften with only six per cent more respondents expecting prices to rise in the coming three months
Simon Rubinsohn, RICS Chief Economist said: “Although the latest survey suggests that uncertainty related to the General Election may have contributed to what appears to have a been disappointing level of transactions in the housing market over the spring, perhaps the most ominous signal emanating from the data released today is that contributors still expect house prices to increase at a faster pace than wages over the medium term despite the difficulty many first time buyers are clearly having in taking their first steps onto the property ladder.
“The increasingly tight second hand market remains a cause for concern with the RICS series tracking new instructions to agents recording its fifteenth successive negative reading. It is hard to see this as anything other a major obstacle to the efficient functioning of the housing market.”
