UK Housing market activity continues to drop in December according to RICS

January 18, 2018

The latest RICS UK Residential Market Survey – December 2017 released today headlines ‘Stamp duty change to have limited impact as new buyer interest drop further.’

The survey reveals that in December, activity in the UK housing market continued to drop. Buyer interest edges lower as sales and new instructions continue to decline.

The report mentions: 86% of respondents report no response yet from first time buyers following changes to Stamp Duty.

The outlook for 2018 for prices and sales is more upbeat according to the RICS report.

Simon Rubinsohn, RICS Chief Economist said:

“The initial feedback from the market doesn’t suggest that the change in the Stamp Duty regime announced in the budget is going to have a material impact on activity. Indeed, the risk was always that a good portion of the benefit would be capitalised in the price, therefore limiting the benefit for the first-time buyer.

“Meanwhile, the latest RICS data continues to highlight the importance of disaggregating the headlines numbers when talking about the market. Challenges over affordability may have grown across the UK but they are clearly having a bigger impact in some parts of the country than others. This is clearly evident in the sales expectations figures which still remain in positive territory in more than half of the areas surveyed in the report.”

Read the latest RICS UK Residential Market Survey – December 2017 released today in full click here.

Allen Walkey

Highly experienced businessman with a successful career in property sales and investment both in the UK and abroad. Now a freelance writer and blogger for the property and Investment Industry, keeping readers up-to-date with changes and events in a rapidly changing world.

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