A quick look at the latest RICS UK Residential Market Survey (November 2023)

Every month the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) releases its UK Residential Market Survey, shedding light on the current state of the housing market across the UK.

This blog post is brought to you by our Chairman & Managing Director, John King, FRICS, who offers valuable insights from his experience here at andrew scott robertson in Wimbledon Village. He actively contributes hiscomments to the monthly survey for the London region.

KEY OUTTAKES FROM THE FULL RICS RESIDENTIAL MARKET SURVEY FOR NOVEMBER

The latest insights from the November 2023 RICS UK Residential Survey suggest a positively optimistic outlook, supported by a slight easing in mortgage rates.

Sales Market Highlights

New Buyer Enquiries

Positive feedback on new buyer enquiries has been observed across all UK regions, and locally in London, best-in-class properties are still selling well, due to competitive mortgage rates heading below 5%. The net balance for new buyer enquiries in November stood at -14%, this figure is the least negative since April 2022 indicating a potential uplift.

Agreed Sales

The national net balance for agreed sales improved by 12%, signalling an increase in the volume of sales. The average time to finalise a sale has also improved slightly due in part due to an improvement in efficiency.

New Instructions

The flow of new instructions onto the market has remained low in both October and November. Respondents report that the number of market appraisals is still below the levels seen twelve months ago. In London, although experiencing a slowdown in transactions due to a lack of stock, there is a sense of encouragement among both buyers and vendors.

House Prices

The survey’s indicator of house price trends posted a net balance of -43% in November. While still demonstrating a downward trend, this figure represents an improvement from -61%, suggesting a moderation in the pace of house price declines, particularly in several UK regions.

Lettings Market Insights

Tenant Demand

Tenant demand remains positive, although slightly easing compared to previous quarters, this is a seasonal change for this time of year.

Landlord Instructions

Landlord instructions remain on a decline, posting a net balance of -18% in November. Despite this and the modest dip in tenant demand, the lettings market maintains resilient, with projected rental price growth, indicating an ongoing demand-supply dynamic.

For more from the RICS UK Monthly Residential Market survey, you can download and read more 2023 reports here: https://www.rics.org/news-insights/market-surveys/uk-residential-market-survey

Please feel free to reach out to us for personalised advice and assistance in this ever-evolving real estate market.

Regards,

John King, FRICS

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