A quick look at the latest RICS UK Residential Market Survey (October 2023)

Every month the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) releases its UK Residential Market Survey, shedding light on the current state of the housing market across the UK.

This blog post is brought to you by our Chairman & Managing Director, John King, FRICS, who offers valuable insights from his experience here at andrew scott robertson in Wimbledon Village. He actively contributes his comments to the monthly survey for the London region.

KEY OUTTAKES FROM THE FULL RICS RESIDENTIAL MARKET SURVEY FOR OCTOBER; 

Residential Sales Market Insights

Buyer Demand
Despite challenging market conditions, there’s an improvement in new buyer inquiries, This indicates a more optimistic outlook compared to previous months.

Agreed Sales
While the net balance for agreed sales in October still reflects a challenging market (-25%) compared to this time last year, there’s a positive shift from figures recorded in August and September. What is evident is the timeline from agreed sales to legal completion, this has moved out from an average of 13 weeks to over 20 weeks.  A cautious outlook for the remainder of 2023 and early 2024 remains on the cards as the cost of living continues to rise.

New Instructions
The flow of new instructions has begun to slow, as new year aspirations by vendors for a better market takes hold. However, with buyer demand still evident new stock coming to the market now will result in a flow of viewings if valued correctly.

House Prices
In October, the headline indicator on house price trends posted a net balance of -63%, when viewed across the country. Locally a much better picture emerges showing an improvement from previous months indicating between -5 to -10% is the achievement rate when set against current asking prices.

Lettings Market Insights

In the lettings market, tenant demand remains positive, although there’s a slight easing in demand compared to previous quarters. Landlord instructions have declined as rental levels have peaked contributing to a further reduction in listings, due to in part of landlords placing their properties on the market for sale instead.

In conclusion the lettings market has become a positive and safe investment over the years and this will remain to be the case for years to come providing interest rates remain no higher than their current level, this is underpinned by the build to rent market having stalled.

For more from the RICS UK Monthly Residential Market survey, you can download and read more 2023 reports here: https://www.rics.org/news-insights/market-surveys/uk-residential-market-survey

Please feel free to reach out to us for personalised advice and assistance in this ever-evolving real estate market. Find the right team for your needs here.

Regards,

John King, FRICS

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