RICS housing market survey - November 1997-January 1998

Citation

(1998), "RICS housing market survey - November 1997-January 1998", Property Management, Vol. 16 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/pm.1998.11316cab.002

RICS housing market survey - November 1997-January 1998

RICS housing market survey ­ November 1997-January 1998

Keywords Housing market, RICS

January saw house prices rise across the country with the exception of the North West according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) housing market survey for the three months until the end of January 1998.

Contributors noted a marginal increase in the number of homes coming onto the market but it was not enough to mitigate the property shortage which is continuing to force prices upwards. This increase was confirmed by a net balance of 31 per cent of chartered surveyors compared to 19 per cent in December. The RICS house price model indicates that average prices will rise by around 6 per cent this year.

The biggest increases were seen in the South East where 43 per cent of respondents reported rising prices (compared to 14 per cent in December), reflecting the region's lack of stock. Many respondents in the South East reported steady demand across all price ranges but that valuations are not turning into instructions fast enough and pressure is already starting to push prices up. More expensive properties are attracting the greatest premiums, particularly those in the £300,000+ price range and country houses. At the other end of the spectrum the market for flats is beginning to pick up after a long period of decline, particularly in London and the South East.

RICS Housing Market Spokesman, Ian Perry, commented:

"The main cloud on the horizon is the shortage of property for sale which will get worse if potential sellers hold back from the market hoping for prices to rise more steeply. As this belief clashes with the resolution of buyers determined not to pay more, a damaging stalemate could follow.

"There are still wide variations in house price inflation and the high prices being realised in the South are not reflected in all regions. While the market for flats picks up in the South East, in the North West respondents are finding that smaller terraced houses are difficult to sell as first time buyers shun the traditional first purchases and move straight to the second rung of the property ladder. Our first survey of 1998 shows a housing market which is still fragmented, with prices fluctuating even within regions."