Current housing market trends

The news for those looking to sell their homes in the New Year is not particularly cheery; as all the indications are that the housing market in the UK is likely to remain depressed for some time to come. The most recent report issued by the RICS suggests that house prices are set to continue to fall throughout 2012, due to a combination of a shortage of mortgages, general economic instability and the fears over the possibility of property deflation. While the report states that the numbers of potential home purchasers actually increased throughout November – the third successive month that this has happened – the report still states that an increased number of the estate agents who are members of the RICS expect a continued fall in house prices next year.

However there are brighter trends in the housing market, especially for those keen to buy rather than sell – with an increase in potential buyers reported by seven percent more member agents of the RICS, and a further five percent more indicating that they are confident of an increase in house sales, rather than a decline, in 2012. However despite these encouraging figures, the current housing market trends do not indicate that an overall recovery in the market is on the way. The positive effects of the expected increase in the demand among buyers are liable to be squashed by the comparable rise in the number of homes on the market. The upshot of this is that, unless the property is in a particularly desirable locale, sellers are likely to have to greatly lower their house prices if they want to stand any chance of selling their property.

The numbers of unsold properties currently on the books of estate agents in the UK, is one of the clearest indications of the continuing trend towards slump in the housing market, with the average being 73.2 – the highest unsold property average since the initial financial crash in 2008. In the report RICS has sought to quell anxieties by emphasising that the levels of the drop in housing prices are nowhere near the levels of 2008 and 2009.