The April 2024 RICS UK Residential Survey results show the recent recovery in buyer demand stuttering slightly, with the market seemingly impacted by the slight upward move in mortgage rates over the past few weeks. Nevertheless, forward-looking sentiment continues to point to a stronger picture for sales market activity coming through over the next twelve months.
With respect to new buyer enquiries, the headline
net balance for this indicator softened to -1% in
April, down from a reading of +6% previously.
As such, this brings to an end a run of three
consecutive positive monthly results beforehand,
with the latest return indicative of a broadly fl at
trend. That said, the feedback around buyer
demand is mixed at the regional level, with any loss
of impetus mainly concentrated in London and
Southern parts of England.
Meanwhile, the agreed sales metric did improve
slightly in April, posting a net balance reading of
+5% compared to -5% last month