Prices 'robust' but West Midlands housing market still subdued, says RICS report

Prices are still 'robust', largely because of the continued lack of stock, according to the latest residential market survey from RICS - the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

But the overall market is subdued, with enquiries from new buyers, instructions from people wanting to sell their homes and sales activity generally all falling in November.

And surveyors at estate agencies and practices up and down the West Midlands are expecting the trend to continue into the early part of next year.

A pre-Christmas slowdown in the housing market is always expected, but this year it comes on top of continuing subdued demand.

Stephen Smith, from Fraser Wood in Walsall, said: “The pre-Christmas lull started early with sellers putting off placing properties on the market, unless the need to.”

And the lack of homes on the market is pushing up prices, in contrast to London, the South East and the East of the UK

Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist at the RICS, said: “It is perhaps not surprising that the headline indicators for both prices and activity are subdued as Christmas approaches. But once again the feedback we are receiving from respondents points to quite marked differences in trends across the country.

"It is clear from the results than the mood music in London and the South East is very much flatter than elsewhere and interestingly, the forward looking indicators suggest this is likely to persist into the new year.

“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.

"There was not much evidence of this in the latest survey, which was conducted after the change in policy, and while most independent analysis casts doubt on whether there will be much follow through, it is still early days. However, if the move does trigger a wide debate about how best to tax property, it will serve a useful role.”

The latest survey found that in November in the West Midlands, both agreed sales and expected sales remained in negative territory. With both the current sales picture and the short term outlook for other activity remaining negative, surveyors taking part in the survey were unconvinced that the market is going to gain any momentum in the coming months.

A lack of new instructions to sell continue to dampen the West Midlands market in November, as the supply crisis continues. In part driven by the slower pace of sales, stock levels on estate agents’ books held broadly steady.

The shortage of stock coming to the West Midlands market also continues to hit new buyer interest as it remained flat in November.

Newly agreed sales continued to edge lower at the regional level. Going forward, sales expectations are expected to fall for the coming three months. Those taking part in the survey suggested activity will continue to be affected by the continued shortage of new instructions, alongside general economic uncertainty caused by Brexit and the latest Budget.

The West Midlands continues to display a relatively strong price picture in comparison to other regions.