Demand cools but house prices climb

Property professionals saw fewer new inquiries from house hunters in June, but house prices continued to increase, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). More than a quarter (27%) of professionals reported a fall in interest from potential buyers, with this marking the third month in a row that interest from new buyers slipped. Despite the decline in demand, 65% of professionals saw an increase in prices, with this driven by a lack of available properties for buyers. The RICS poll saw 37% of respondents say they foresee prices continuing to climb over the next 12 months. Transaction numbers are dropping off, with a net 13% of respondents seeing a fall in agreed sales in June. The slide in transactions also reflects the dearth of homes available. The shortage is "unlikely to change drastically" in the short term, Rics said, with its members seeing little change in the number of valuations being asked to carry out compared with last summer.

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