9
Feb
RICS survey records house price rise
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors' (RICS') monthly
housing market survey has discovered that house prices rose in
January, with 32 per cent of its members reporting increases rather
than falls in property values.
However, surveyors noted that new instructions and new buyer
enquires both recorded falls.
New buyer enquires dropped for the first time in more than a year,
with 20 per cent more respondents experiencing a fall rather than a
rise compared with December 2009.
RICS pointed out that many of its members attributed the decreased
number of enquiries to the spell of bad weather that hit the
country at the beginning of January.
Surveyors are also optimistic about the coming three months, with
24 per cent expecting sales to improve during the timeframe,
compared with just seven per cent in the previous month.
RICS spokesperson Ian Perry commented: "House prices are likely to
rise in the short term, but only if more supply continues to come
on to the market."
In December, the average number of completed sales per surveyor
reached its highest level since March 2008.