Housing market to improve over next two years as borrowing costs stabilise say surveyors
As stability returned to the mortgage market over the past few weeks, the housing market has started to show signs of improvement, a new survey conducted by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has said.
A net balance of 11 per cent of property professionals reported sales falling rather than rising, narrowing from a reading of 23 per cent in October.
While this suggests that buyer demand is still falling it is the least negative figure for this metric since April 2022.
Again, some six per cent of respondents, who work in the property sector, also said they expect forecasted sales to rise over the coming months.
A further 24 per cent of surveyors expected sales to improve over the next two years.
RICS said this is the most “upbeat return” for this forward-looking measure since January 2022.
Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist at RICS, said: “The latest RICS Residential Market Survey provides further evidence that sentiment is a little less negative than previously was the case.
“Critically, the new buyers enquiries indicator is finally beginning to stabilise.”
He added: “This is being aided by increased confidence that the interest rate cycle has peaked which is reflected in somewhat more competitive mortgage products coming to the market.
“However, with the cost of money likely to remain elevated for some time to come and the economic outlook still downbeat, it is not surprising that the overall tone to the anecdotal remarks from survey respondents is still quite cautious.”
According to Money Facts, the average two-year fixed residential mortgage rate is now 5.98 per cent.