RICS: Surveyors Optimistic For House Sales
Home sales in Scotland are expected to rise over the next three months despite a falloff in new buyer enquiries during June, according to the latest Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Residential Market Survey.
A net balance of 26% of respondents to the survey in Scotland expect the number of sales to rise through Q3 2024, up from the 22% seen in May, and 8% in April.
Surveyors also remain upbeat about prices, with a net balance of 18% of respondents anticipating that prices will rise over the next three months. This follows a positive past three months, when the headline price balance remained at +29%.
Demand, however, is reported to have fallen through June. A net balance of -26% of surveyors reported that new buyer enquiries decreased in the most recent survey after a period of five months when this balance was in positive territory.
Surveyors in Scotland also note that supply was lower last month, with a net balance of -32% of respondents reporting a decrease in new instructions to sell, the lowest this balance has been in just under a year.
With supply and demand both subdued, it is unsurprising that a net balance of -15% of surveyors in Scotland reported a fall in sales, down from 4% in May.
Anecdotally, respondents pointed to factors including the General Election, the Euros and the Bank of England holding interest rates as factors in slower enquiries and newly agreed sales over the past month.