A recent rebound in the residential property market has run out of steam, according to a survey that showed house prices edged down in April following the end of a stamp duty concession for first-time buyers.
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors reported that across the country, 19 per cent more surveyors reported falls rather than rises in house prices, with a balance of 17 per cent predicting further declines.
London was the only part of the UK to see prices rise, albeit at the slowest rate since the middle of 2011, while the West Midlands and Wales saw the most significant declines.
Peter Bolton King, Rics’ housing spokesman, said economic concerns and the continuing lack of affordable mortgage finance were having an impact on the market.
“With the recent surge in activity brought on by March’s stamp duty holiday coming to an end, it is unsurprising to see that prices across much of the country are continuing to fall,†he added.
The number of new agreed sales weakened in April, with more surveyors reporting a fall rather than a rise in transactions for the first time since September. Rics said this was likely to be explained by the expiry of the stamp duty holiday for properties costing less than £250,000, which accelerated deals that might otherwise have been completed in April.
A balance of 15 per cent of surveyors expect sales to pick up over the next three months. Enquiries from potential buyers rose slightly in April, while new instructions from sellers were stable.
Source: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e3574438-9836-11e1-8617-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1uG614Y1G
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