UK House Prices Keep Rising
A lack of new homes for sale in Britain boosted prices again last month even as the housing market slowed following a partial withdrawal of a pandemic emergency tax break for property purchases, a survey showed. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors' (RICS) gauge of new buyer enquiries slipped in August to its lowest level since January, as did its measure of agreed sales. But with demand still far in excess of supply - driven by people seeking bigger homes as they work remotely more often after the coronavirus pandemic - the vast majority of surveyors polled by RICS - a net 73 per cent - reported rising house prices, albeit down from a reading of +79 per cent in July. "While momentum has eased relative to an exceptionally strong stretch earlier in the year, there are still many factors likely to drive a solid market going forward," said RICS economist Tarrant Parsons. "Given the real shortfall in new listings becoming available of late, there remains strong competition amongst buyers and this is maintaining a significant degree of upward pressure on house prices." A significant majority of surveyors - a net 66 per cent - said they expected house prices to rise over the next 12 months, unchanged from July's reading.
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