Revved-up sellers ready to market homes this spring says RICS

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors says the market should prepare itself for a glut of new supply thanks to the stamp duty holiday extension.

In its latest monthly sentiment survey of members’ views on the market, RICS says many would-be vendors sat tight over the late winter while they waited for news of the expected stamp duty holiday extension.

RICS expresses its market snapshot in terms of the balance of opinion amongst members responding to the survey.

So it reports that the number of new buyer enquiries has fallen in the past month, with the net balance coming in at minus nine per cent in February – much better than the minus 29 per cent of January.

There was a broadly flat trend in the volume of sales agreed.

RICS’ monthly measure of house prices showed 52 per cent of members seeing rises last month – slightly higher than the 49 per cent in January.

Prices and sales volumes are both predicted to be strong in the second quarter of the year, RICS says.

Simon Rubinsohn, RICS chief economist, says:

“The [stamp duty and guaranteed 95 per cent mortgages] measures announced last week … should help support the housing market over the coming months with concerns around a cliff-edge end to the stamp duty break eased.”

Kindly shared by Estate Agent Today

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