2020.12.1007:05:00UTC+00UK House Price Growth Slows Marginally In November

The UK housing market showed solid trend in sales, demand and prices in November but the pace of growth slowed from October, survey results from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, or RICS, showed Thursday.

House prices continued to reveal a significant degree of upward pressure with the latest balance coming in at 66 percent at the national level. Nonetheless, this was marginally below the 67 percent seen in October.

A net balance of +27 percent of respondents cited an increase in new buyer enquiries in November, but this was much smaller than the +42 percent posted in October.

A net balance of +16 percent of contributors reported an increase in fresh listings coming onto the sales market. About 25 percent of participants logged an increase in agreed sales in November though this was down from 41 percent in October.

Looking ahead, near term sales expectations turned broadly neutral at the national level. The balance declined to -4 percent from +15 percent in October.

The expectations index for the next twelve months was also negative, at -21 percent largely reflecting the weak employment outlook and the withdrawal of the Stamp Duty holiday after March 2021.