DevDosh Ltd blog writers have read reports highlighting property sales across the whole of the UK housing market declined in September, the steepest of declines was seen in the London property market.
One factor contributing in the drop in sales was buyers waiting to see what the bank of England would do with interest rates in November, and also affordability in the more affluent areas of London was another factor, according to Simon Rubinsohn, Rics chief economist.
London and the South East experienced the largest drop in sales, the data showed. The balance of surveyors reporting increasing prices in London is the lowest of any region, remaining in “firmly negative” territory.
At the same time, 15 per cent more respondents reported a fall in sales rather than a rise, the lowest level since July 2016, the immediate aftermath of the EU referendum.
The “stark divergence” across the country amid wavering demand for houses in London is partly “a reflection of affordability constraints hitting the higher-priced segments of the market”, said Rubinsohn.
The perceived weakness in the London and South East property markets drove sentiment for the next three months into negative territory, Rics said, with an eight per cent swing to more respondents expecting prices to fall at a national level.
Brian Murphy, head of lending at the Mortgage Advice Bureau, said: “It would appear that London and the surrounding traditional ‘commuter belt’ continues to lag, which is consistent with other data sources suggesting a similar cooling in the capital and South East.”
Nevertheless, in the nation as a whole there are still signs of a shortage in the supply of homes, Rics reported, with “evidence of shortage of stock both in the new build and second hand market”.
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