LONDON Reuters- Britain saw the most widespread house price falls since early in the COVID-19 epidemic last month, as demand from buyers and sales activity slowed in the face of higher borrowing costs, a survey showed on Thursday.
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said its house price net balance - which measures the difference between the percentage of surveyors seeing rises and falls in house prices - fell to 25 in November.
This was the lowest since May 2020, and is below the - 10 predicted by economists in a Reuters poll. Simon Rubinsohn, RICS chief economist Simon Rubinsohn said that the overall tone of the latest RICS Residential Survey was more downbeat than previously, reflecting the uncertain macro environment and higher cost of mortgage finance.
Price falls were particularly common in southeast and southwest England, while prices rose modestly in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The decline was less steep than in October, when many lenders stopped approving new mortgages due to bond market turmoil after a fiscal statement by Liz Truss's short-lived government.
The RICS survey matches other measures of house price weakness from British mortgage lenders. Halifax reported on Wednesday that house prices recorded their biggest monthly drop since 2008 in November, falling by 2.8%, while Nationwide measured its biggest fall since June 2020.
According to official data, house prices would drop by around 5% next year, a poll of economists and property market analysts last month.
Rubinsohn said it was possible that the fall in house prices might be fairly modest, as unemployment was low and not forecast to rise as much as in previous downturns.
Rents are on course to keep rising, despite falling house prices, according to RICS. The number of tenants is increasing while fewer landlords are offering properties.