UK house sales outlook is darkest since 2023

LONDON: British property surveyors were the most downbeat about the short-term outlook for house sales in more than three years in October, as rising interest rates for mortgages compressed demand, a survey showed on Thursday.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said its outlook for house sales over the 12 months fell to -17 in October, with surveyors expecting the broadest drop in sales since July 2023.

"Home buyer demand remains subdued, and respondents are bracing for a weaker year ahead for sales given the persistent macroeconomic challenges being faced," RICS head of market research Tarrant Parsons said.

RICS' headline house price balance dropped to -36 last month from September's downwardly revised reading of -34, and a slightly bigger drop than the -34 forecast in a Reuters poll of economists.

Its gauge of new buyer enquiries held at -24, while agreed sales fell to -24 from -18, the weakest in three months.

In rentals, tenant demand strengthened, and landlords reduced properties put on the market.

Expectations for growth in rents over the next three months climbed to +41, from +29, its strongest since early 2024.

The Bank of England raised interest rates to 4.0 per cent from 3.75 per cent last week, its first hike in three years