House prices fall at slowest rate in August, says RICS study |
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Tue, 20 Sep 2005 19:05
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LONDON: House prices have fallen at the slowest rate in a year in August even as there are more and more enquiries from new buyers for homes, a clear indication of the revival of the sector, according to a survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
The RICS study said the seasonally adjusted house prices balance for the three months to August rose to -26, from -34 in the three months to July.
At the same time, number of enquiries from home buyers increased for third month in a row and at a fastest rate since January 2004, the study said, emphasising that the August rate cut by the Bank of England had indeed come as a confidence booster for the sector. The ratio of completed sales to unsold property, rose to 30 per cent in August from 29 per cent in July.
The study also revealed that the number of new sellers went up at its slowest in 13 months in August and the average number of unsold homes on surveyors' books fell to 74.6 per surveyor from 77.4. The average number of completed sales rose for the second month in a row: to 22.7 per surveyor in August from 22.4 in the July survey.
A spokesperson for RICS indicated that rapid increase in prices cannot be expected mainly because affordability has not improved for the prospective buyers.
While there is evident increase in demand, the number of properties brought to the market increased at its slowest rate in a year as the pressure to sell reduced, the study said. This resulted in a drop in the number of homes available on sale.
The RICS survey follows a similar study by property website Rightmove, which said in spite of the average 3,200-pound decline in house prices in the last three months, the activity levels during August had outstripped expectations in each of the two previous months.
RICS maintained that the market continued to be a buyers' one as there are abundant stock of properties among estate agents.
The survey covered 311 estate agents and surveyors.
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