RICS survey fuels hopes of green shoots in housing market

Signs of revived interest in the housing market comes in the July survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

The survey showed new buyer enquiries rose in July for the nineth month in a row, with evidence that the rebound in enquiries is feeding through into increased transactions.

Newly agreed sales reached the highest level since August 1999.

Surveyors sold an average of 15 properties each in the past three months, compared with 13 during the three months from April to June.

Of the surveyors interviewed, 8% more saw house price falls over the month than those that saw price rises.

But the falls appear to be concentrated in the North, with surveyors in London and the South East reporting seeing the cost of homes rising.

But overall the survey showed revived sentiment, with 8% more chartered surveyors expecting prices to rise over the next three months - the highest reading since April 2007.

Jeremy Leaf, spokesperson for the RICS, says demand for property is continuing to rebound but still remains low from a historical perspective.

He says: "Crucially it is the lack of supply that is helping to underpin prices at the present time.

"If mortgage availability remains insufficient to meet the increase in buyer demand, then it is possible that prices may slip back again especially if unemployment continues to rise and mortgage rates increase."