The downturn in housing market activity may potentially be starting to stabilise, according to surveyors.
A net balance of 34 per cent of property professionals reported in May that new buyer inquiries were falling rather than rising, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) said.
While this continued to point to weaker housing market demand, it was the first time since January that demand had not moved further into negative territory.
The fall in agreed sales was also unchanged in May, with a net balance of 37 per cent of professionals seeing sales fall.
The unchanged reading suggests the pace of decline is no longer intensifying, Rics said.
But it also said that sales are taking longer to complete, with the average time from listing to completion sitting at 21.5 weeks – the longest time since Rics started recording these particular figures in 2017.
House prices are also falling overall, with a net balance of 35 per cent of professionals seeing falls.
Professionals in the South East and East Anglia reported more pronounced downward pressure on prices, while those in Northern Ireland continued to see firm price growth, Rics said.
Looking to 12 months’ time, a small balance of 2 per cent of professionals expect to see sales pick up.
And while house prices are also expected to fall overall in the next three months, a balance of 6 per cent of surveyors expect prices to be higher in the year ahead.
Mortgage rates jumped amid economic uncertainty prompted by the conflict in the Middle East, but in recent weeks some lenders have been cutting rates.
Rics said the rental market also remains under pressure, with rising demand from tenants and falling landlord instructions.
Tarrant Parsons, Rics head of market research and analysis, said: “The latest survey data suggest the recent downturn in activity may be beginning to stabilise, with several key indicators broadly holding steady.
“However, as they remain in negative territory, it would be premature to interpret this as the start of a recovery.”
The report was released as separate research from Zoopla indicated that UK rents for new lets increased by 2.1 per cent in the 12 months to April, falling from 2.6 per cent a year ago.
Zoopla also said that in areas where average rents are £750 per month or less, rents are typically rising by 5 per cent on average – over twice the national average of 2.1 per cent.
Richard Donnell, executive director at Zoopla, said: “Rent inflation is more subdued across most of the UK’s major cities due to already stretched affordability levels for renters.”
