UK house price growth expected to surge as post-election supply bounce lacking
Hopes for a post-election surge in the supply of houses to the market have failed to materialise, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said today.
“Tight supply conditions continue to be a key factor underpinning prices, with fresh instructions to sell becoming increasingly sparse while average stocks per surveyor fell to a new record low [52 properties],” RICS said.
The average stock of houses per surveyor is now down by 12 per cent since the start of 2015.
Surveyors now expect price growth to accelerate of the coming months on the back of the supply shortage.
“There had been some hope that the removal of political uncertainty would encourage more properties onto the market but the initial indications are that this is not proving to be the case. As a result, it is hardly surprising that prices across much of the country are continuing to be squeezed higher with property set to become ever more unaffordable,” said RICS chief economist Simon Rubinsohn.
Meanwhile, house prices climbed by 4.5 per cent in May, just a third of what the rate that was seen this time last year, according to figures published today by LSL property services.
London is no longer home to the fastest growing house prices, LSL said, with price growth of 5.2 per cent – below the South East, East Anglia and the East Midlands.
This drop has been led by properties in Kensington and Chelsea, which are 16 per cent cheaper than their autumn peak. LSL said the biggest constraint on the top end of the market had been stamp duty changes.
“The melody of growth has slowed, with monthly house price rises now just a third of what they were a year ago. But the property market is still hitting the high notes – with the average home in England and Wales currently worth £277,178. This is the fourth new record for property values this year,” said Adrian Gill, director of Reeds Rains and Your Move estate agents.