RICS reports weakest UK home-sales outlook since July 2023

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said its measure of UK home-sale expectations fell to minus 17 in October, its most pessimistic reading since July 2023, as buyer enquiries remained subdued and agreed sales declined. The survey points to a weaker housing market outlook, though its balances measure surveyors’ views rather than completed future transactions.

RICS’s balance for new buyer enquiries was minus 24, unchanged from September. Agreed sales registered minus 24, compared with minus 18 the previous month, the weakest reading in three months. RICS said virtually all parts of the UK reported falling or stagnant buyer demand.

Surveyors also turned more negative about prices over the next year. The house-price expectations balance dropped to minus 17 from zero, a reading RICS said implied a fall of around 1%. In October, its balance for current house-price trends was minus 36, compared with minus 34 in September. Price trends were weaker than the UK average in London, East Anglia, the West Midlands and the South East; Northern Ireland recorded rises, while Scotland and the North West of England saw modest growth.

Tarrant Parsons, RICS head of market research and...