UK house prices fall in August for first time since October 2005 - RICS |
|
|
|
Published
:
Thu, 13 Sep 2007 00:16
|
LONDON (Thomson Financial) - UK house prices fell during August for the first time in nearly two years, while new buyer enquiries dropped at their fastest rate for three years, a leading industry group said.In its monthly survey of the housing sector, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors found a balance of 1.8 pct of its members reported house prices fell in the three months to August rather than rose -- the first time since October 2005 that a fall in prices has been recorded.This was well below analysts' forecasts for a balance of 8 pct to report a rise in prices and indicates a rapid deceleration in house price growth from July, when a balance of 10.8 pct of members reported a rise.The fall suggests the Bank of England's five interest rate hikes over the past year is now feeding through to the housing market, which up until now had been proving fairly resilient. It is also likely to cement analyst expectations that UK interest rates have now peaked at 5.75 pct.RICS found the fall in house prices was most prevalent in the West Midlands, the North West and East Anglia, while London is yet to be affected and remained the region with the strongest price growth in England.Looking ahead, RICS said the downward trend is set to continue with new buyer enquiries falling for the ninth consecutive month and at their fastest rate since August 2004. A balance of 37 pct of RICS members reported a fall rather than rise in new buyer enquiries -- up sharply from 27 pct in July.'Potential house buyers have become far more cautious as they wait and see what affect interest rate rises will have on household finances,' RICS spokesman Ian Perry said.'The market will soften further, going into the autumn, reducing some impetus from those that have been chasing a rapidly moving target,' he said.rachel.armstrong@thomson.comrar/amCOPYRIGHTCopyright AFX News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News.
|
|
|
|
Print this Story
UK July new buyer enquiries fall at fastest rate in nearly 3 years - RICS 