Estate agency stock hits four-year high amid tax fears – RICS
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) residential housing report shows estate agency stock hits four-year high amid tax fears.
Estate agency stock is on the rise, perhaps helped buy landlords listing properties in fear of capital gains tax (CGT) rises in the Autumn Budget, RICS claims.
The latest RICS Residential Market Survey for September shows the average number of properties available per branch rose to 44.6 – the highest level of inventories recorded across the survey since December 2020.
Looking ahead, respondents continue to report that the number of market appraisals undertaken over the month is running above that seen twelve months ago, suggesting the near-term pipeline for instructions looks relatively solid, RICS said.
Respondents to the latest report said demand, sales, and new listings had all returned to growth, while sentiment towards national house price growth across the country is positive for the first time since October 2022 – albeit at different levels.
Overall demand from buyers recorded a +14% result (net balance), the third month in a row indicating growth. Sales sentiment also saw a rise, although more marginal (+5% net balance). Near-term, a net balance of +23% of respondents believes the sales market will continue to grow over the next three months, while longer-term twelve-month growth sentiment is even stronger (+45%).
New listings are also up, encouraging a growing demand, according to respondents (+22%). This is a rise from the previous month’s +9% result, indicating a readily available supply of property for sale.
Respondents also cited potential rises CGT encouraging homeowners to list their properties for sale.
Looking ahead, respondents anticipate prices will continue to edge higher over the coming three months with a net balance reading of +12%. Over the next 12 months, a net balance of +54% of survey participants believe house prices will increase, marking the strongest reading for this series since April 2022
Tarrant Parsons, head of market analytics for RICS, said:
“The latest survey results once again convey a brighter picture for housing market activity, with the recent easing in mortgage interest rates continuing to support a recovery in buyer demand.
“Critical for the outlook, a further unwinding in monetary policy is anticipated over the months ahead, which should create a more favourable backdrop for the market moving forward.
“In keeping with this idea, forward-looking sentiment data from the survey points to sales volumes gaining impetus, both in the near-term and over the next twelve months.”
Commenting on the report, Tom Bill, head of UK residential research at Knight Frank, said:
“Demand has been supported by falling mortgage rates in recent months, but any positivity has been offset to some extent by a mood of uncertainty ahead of the Budget.
“The prospect of tax rises and the fact people are still rolling off relatively lower fixed-rate mortgages will keep a lid on demand this autumn and we expect UK prices to grow by low single digits this year.”
Kindly shared by Estate Agent Today
