Final three months of 2012 look bright for housing sector

The UK housing market should see a slightly stronger end to the year with transaction levels expected to pick up and price falls predicted to slow, says the latest RICS UK housing market survey (9 October 2012).

Helped by the prospect of greater mortgage availability on the back of recent government initiatives, chartered surveyors’ expectations for future sales reached their highest level since May 2010. During September, a net balance of 26 percent more respondents predicted transactions to grow during the final three months of the year.

Last month, prices in the UK housing market continued to fall, albeit at a slower pace than in previous months. A net balance of 15 percent more surveyors reported falls rather than rises, the best reading since the spring.

Elsewhere, demand from potential buyers remained stable in most parts of the country with four percent more surveyors across the UK seeing increases rather than decreases in new buyer enquiries. Interest from would be buyers has not seen any significant growth since the end of 2009.