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RICS housing survey suggests a house price slide, unless you’re in London

RICS housing survey suggests a house price slide, unless you’re in London

The latest RICS housing market survey took on a decidedly three-speed look, very much in line with what one might expected would result from the current economic realignment being implemented by the Government. Broadly the picture it paints is one that shows prices up in London, down in most Southern regions and down a lot in the North. Naturally it is not that clear cut. Scotland continues to be in the less bad group and the North West seems to…

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RICS construction survey provides more worries than hopes

RICS construction survey provides more worries than hopes

Construction workload is falling and we should expect it to fall further. That basically is what the latest survey from the surveyors’ body RICS suggests. The lines on the graph 1 are pretty clear. There are firms doing more work (blue line), but there are more firms doing less (red line). And on balance there is a majority of firms of the view that workloads will fall over the next 12 months (green line). But given that this survey data…

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Drop in home buyers and sellers in December – was it the snow or is it a climate change?

Drop in home buyers and sellers in December – was it the snow or is it a climate change?

Both buyers and sellers appeared to be fleeing the housing market in December, according to the latest housing market survey from the surveyors’ body RICS. The intriguing question is whether this was a freak result cause by heavy falls of snow or are we seeing a climate change in the housing market. Certainly the RICS points understandably to the bad weather as a factor in the results. But we will have to wait for later results to provide a firmer…

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Forecasters expect a fall in house prices in 2011

Forecasters expect a fall in house prices in 2011

We are beginning to see the end of year-ish reading of the runes for the housing market result in a series of forecasts for price movements in 2011. On balance the forecasts point to a drop, mainly on the back of fears over unemployment rising along with concerns among some economists about the start of rising interest rates in the year. Here is a selected list of recent forecasts listed from the more bullish to more bearish, with their last year punts…

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RICS survey points heavily to a return to recession

RICS survey points heavily to a return to recession

Today’s construction survey released by the surveyors’ body RICS adds more weight to the fears that construction is set for a plunge back into recession, showing as it does that more surveyors are seeing workload falling than rising. Asked whether workload had increased or decreased on the previous quarter, the survey found a negative balance of 10% which follows on from a negative balance of 5% in the previous survey three months earlier. This suggests that workload is falling among…

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Buyers and sellers abandon the housing market – that’s bad news for house building numbers

Buyers and sellers abandon the housing market – that’s bad news for house building numbers

The latest housing market survey released today by the surveyors’ body RICS paints a fascinating picture of the courting process between buyers and sellers of houses. The headline figure taken from the survey was always going to be that the majority of estate agents are now seeing house price falls. The figure for the balance of agents seeing rising prices against those seeing prices fall was -52, which was the lowest since March last year. This figure fits with the general…

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What house price falls might mean for future housing construction

What house price falls might mean for future housing construction

The Halifax index out today will provide a nasty kick in the stomach for those businesses reliant on stable or rising house prices to prosper. The monthly fall of 3.6% was the biggest I could find on the historic data spreadsheet that Lloyds Banking Group provides that goes back to the start of 1983. The previous worst monthly fall was 3.0% in September 1992. And however much we are advised to look at the quarterly figure and how ever much…

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House building numbers more vulnerable than prices as the market turns

House building numbers more vulnerable than prices as the market turns

The latest monthly housing market survey from the surveyors’ body RICS will come as unwelcome, if expected, bad news to developers, estate agents and potential sellers. The survey shows the fastest increase in the number of agents seeing price falls since the ugly period that followed the credit crunch (see graph sourced from the RICS August survey) and the lowest reading since May 2009. Last month the survey showed the balance between agents seeing prices up and those seeing prices…

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A double-dip in house prices isn’t really the problem

A double-dip in house prices isn’t really the problem

The Nationwide house price survey showing a drop of 0.9% following a 0.5% drop in July adds yet more weight to the growing view that house prices are sagging and are set to sag further. The Halifax index peaked in March and fell monthly up to a minor rally in July. The Acadmetrics index has been heading south since March, although it similarly saw a gentle uplift of 0.1% in July. Hometrack went 0.1% negative in July and the drop…

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