Surveyors forecast fall in house prices as house buyers decline
A renewed decline in the number of house buyers is piling further pressure on London’s strained property market, according to a closely followed survey out today.
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) has said there was “caution” from buyers last month, as Bank of England governor Mark Carney reportedly warned prices could drop 35 per cent in the case of a no-deal Brexit.
Roughly 47 per cent more surveyors in London said they expected a fall rather than a rise in house prices in the next three months.
Brian Murphy, head of lending for Mortgage Advice Bureau, said: "As the report is based on September, it was perhaps inevitable that the leaked comments from Mark Carney with regards to the potential impact of a ‘disorderly Brexit’ would be the main focus of this month’s commentary. Whilst Mr Carney’s remarks were perhaps somewhat taken out of context – he was of course, asked to provide his views on a range of potential scenarios, not just ‘worst case’ – given the widespread coverage they received, Rics members appear to be suggesting that the impact in some areas of the country was noticeable."
Rics also reported that roughly 51 per cent more surveyors in London saw a decrease rather than increase in house prices across the UK over the last three months – marking a significantly sharper drop than anywhere else in the country.
Among the biggest victims of London’s housing slowdown are prime expensive properties in Central London, which is likely to remain stagnant in the wake of Theresa may’s latest promise to slap a stamp duty surcharge on foreign buyers.
The survey comes a day after Telford Homes boss Jon Di Stefano told City PM that the Aim-listed housebuilder was expecting flat house sales within London’s high-end market over the next year, as negativity Brexit commentary weighs on buyers’ fears.
The Rics residential report also found that the volume of properties being put up for sale or rented out continued to tumble last month.