It remains to be seen whether the scrapping of Stamp Duty for first time buyers announced in the Budget will provide much of a lift for the market.
The headline price balance eased to zero in November, indicating flat prices at the national level over the month. Once again, however, there were significant variations at a regional level. The South East and East Anglia reported negative price trends.
Looking forward, the three-month price expectations are also more or less flat at the national level as the net balance moved to -5 per cent from -10 per cent in October. Looking at price expectations at the regional level, sentiment again remains particularly cautious in London and the South East but, in contrast, contributors are confident that prices will rise in the North West, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland during the three months ahead.
The marked decline in new buyer enquiries over the previous couple of months appeared to moderate in November, 5 per cent more respondents noted a decline in demand (as oppose to an increase), compared to -19 per cent in October and -21 per cent in September.
Newly agreed sales continued to edge lower at the headline level with 10 per cent more respondents seeing a fall rather than rise, compared with -20 per cent in October. The numbers were either a flat or negative across most other areas of the UK. Going forward, national sales expectations remain flat for the coming three months.
New instructions to sell continued to deteriorate in November, as the supply crisis continues. This figure has now been declining for 22 months in succession. However, in part driven by the slower pace of sales, stock levels on estate agents’ books held broadly steady.
