9
Nov
House prices still falling, surveyors say
House prices continue to be dragged lower by a shortage of
buyers, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
(Rics).
Its latest monthly survey reports that more than half (55%) of
its members who work as estate agents said prices fell locally in
the past three months.
Only 4% said that prices were rising.
Rics said the continued pressure on house prices was due to
caution by potential buyers and the continued rationing of
mortgages by lenders.
"New buyer enquiries dropped for the fifth consecutive month as
the housing market slowed further during October," Rics said.
"Respondents to the survey report that the market is generally
cautious, with many buyers signalling that they are going to wait
until the spring to make a decision."
Slowing down
The Rics survey underlines the evidence of recent reports from
lenders such as the Halifax and the Nationwide.
They have both reported that prices have drifted lower in the
past few months, and are now barely higher than they were a year
ago.
The Rics survey only took the opinion of 278 surveyors, but it
is widely regarded as having its finger on the pulse of the
market.
Its latest report for October shows that the number of completed
sales fell to an average of just 15.2 per surveyor in the past
three months, from 16.7 in the three months to September.
Rics said this was the worst level of sales since June last
year.
"[This] highlights the failure of transaction activity to
benefit in a meaningful way from either from the current stamp duty
holiday or the stronger-than-expected GDP data over the past couple
of quarters," it warned.
One new feature was that the number of new properties being put
up for sale also fell back, the first drop since January, which
Rics suggested might stop any dramatic further falls in prices.
"Buyer numbers have decreased and new properties coming to the
market [are] slowing down," said John Frost of the Frost
Partnership in Burnham, Buckinghamshire.
Stephen Gadsby, of Gadsby Orridge, in Derby said: "Lack of
mortgage funding especially the availability to first time buyers
is the main obstacle in the market."
Ray Saunders of Webbers Property Services of Bideford in Devon,
said: "Generally people have been waiting to see what government
policy will have in terms of jobs etc on their own situations."
Mortgage 'plateau'
The severity of mortgage rationing changed eased only slightly in
the past month, according to the latest figures from financial
information service Moneyfacts.
It said the number of mortgage deals available to borrowers with
deposits of between 0% and 40% rose only slightly; up by 20 to 2170
at the start of November.
The proportion of them requiring a downpayment of at least 25%
fell only slightly to 51%.
A year ago a deposit of at least 25% was required by 66% of all
mortgage deals on offer.
"The mortgage market has reached a plateau with no real movement
in the number of deal for borrowers with a small deposit," said
Michelle Slade at Moneyfacts.
"Lenders continue to target borrowers with at least a 20%
deposit and continue to launch their most competitive deals to
these borrowers."
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business