RICS members admit house prices are falling

A full decline in UK house prices has been registered by the Royal Institution for Chartered Surveyors for the first time in a year as house price activity dropped 11% in the three months to August.

A survey of RICS members indicates house prices will continue to fall, as the number of surveyors who say house prices are falling has increased by 12%, compared with a climb of 3% in July.

Sales activity also fell by 11% in the quarter to August and surveyors have noticed a rise in the amount of unsold property on the market for the first time since May this year.

Despite this, surveyors argue they do not anticipate a sharp drop in house prices albeit the research conducted by RICS is based on surveyors’ opinions rather than firm statistics.

London, the South East and the Eastern regions are seeing the biggest falls, while prices have continued to rise in Scotland and the North East, says RICS.