# UK housing market weakness continues, improvement on the horizon – RICS Author: Pal Sinha, Barnali Author URL: https://financedigest.com/author/pal-sinha-barnali Published: 2023-04-13 Category: NEWS Category URL: https://financedigest.com/category/news Meta Title: RICS Survey: UK Housing Market Sees Modest Improvement Amid Meta Description: Discover how interest rates impact Britain's housing market in RICS's latest survey, signaling potential stability and improvement in the year ahead. URL: https://financedigest.com/uk-housing-market-weakness-continues-improvement-on-the-horizon-ricshtml ![undefined](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cm5qst7v3003gwirgwqtxn8i8/images/2023-04-12t231342z2lynxmpej3b0xbrtroptp4britain-economy-houseprices-1736814164057-compressed.jpg) By Suban Abdulla LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s housing market continued to feel the pinch of higher borrowing costs in March, but property surveyors expect some improvement over the year ahead as they think interest rates are now near their peak, a survey showed on Thursday. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said its house price net balance – which measures the difference between the percentage of surveyors seeing rises and falls in house prices – fell to -43 last month, up from -47 in February, and slightly above the -48 forecast in a Reuters poll of economists. RICS’s gauges of buyer demand, sales, new listings and [house prices](https://www.financedigest.com/uk-house-prices-stabilise-after-four-month-fall-halifax-says.html "UK house prices stabilise after four-month fall, Halifax says") were all in negative territory last month. The net balance of agreed sales across Britain slipped to -31 in March from -25 for February, but still above the -43 low in October 2022 when financial [market turmoil](https://www.financedigest.com/spains-santander-reaffirms-targets-in-face-of-recent-market-turmoil.html "Spain’s Santander reaffirms targets in face of recent market turmoil") after former prime minister Liz Truss’s mini-budget temporarily halted new mortgage lending. However, its [indicators looking ahead pointed to hints of stability in Britain’s housing market](https://www.financedigest.com/market-stress-indicators-react-sharply-after-u-s-bank-failures.html "Market stress indicators react sharply after U.S. bank failures") in the coming 12 months. The sales expectations balance for 12 months’ time rose to +1, its highest [since March](https://www.financedigest.com/the-nasdaq-100-on-track-to-have-its-best-week-since-march-2010.html "The Nasdaq 100 On Track to Have its Best Week Since March 2010") 2022. “The overall tone of the feedback received from respondents … is still one of caution towards the [sales market](https://www.financedigest.com/sales-of-electric-bicycle-motors-market-to-record-exponential-growth-during-2017-2025.html "Sales of Electric Bicycle Motors Market to Record Exponential Growth During 2017 – 2025"), which is reflected in both the headline price and activity indicators,” Simon Rubinsohn, RICS’s chief economist, said. There is also a sense that the medium-term outlook is looking a little more settled, helped by the perception that the interest [rate cycle may be near the peak.”](https://www.financedigest.com/bank-of-england-raises-rates-to-3-5-says-inflation-has-peaked.html "Bank of England raises rates to 3.5%, says inflation has peaked") The Bank of England raised interest rates by a quarter point to 4.25% last month in an [effort to bring back](https://www.financedigest.com/mifid-ii-why-you-should-not-scale-back-your-implementation-efforts.html "MIFID II: WHY YOU SHOULD NOT SCALE BACK YOUR IMPLEMENTATION EFFORTS") double-digit inflation to its 2% target, but has hinted it is nearing the end of its run of rate hikes which began in December 2021. Other measures of Britain’s housing [market have shown a mixed](https://www.financedigest.com/analysis-ecb-seen-struggling-to-keep-market-on-side-after-mixed-messages.html "Analysis-ECB seen struggling to keep market on side after mixed messages") picture. Mortgage lender Nationwide reported a 3.1% drop in [house prices in the year to March – the fastest annual fall](https://www.financedigest.com/buy-off-plan-to-beat-stalling-house-prices-and-falling-rental-yields-says-jean-liggett.html "“Buy off-plan to beat stalling house prices and falling rental yields” says Jean Liggett ") since July 2009 – while rival Halifax said prices grew 1.6% year-on-year. In contrast to [property price](https://www.financedigest.com/immediate-lift-of-oxford-property-prices-to-result-from-new-direct-high-speed-rail-connection-with-london.html "“Immediate lift” of Oxford property prices to result from new direct high speed rail connection with London") falls, RICS said rents are expected to rise 4% across Britain in the coming 12 months due to an imbalance in demand and supply. Its non-seasonally adjusted monthly tenant [demand growth indicator hit](https://www.financedigest.com/euro-zone-likely-entering-recession-as-price-rises-hit-demand-pmi.html "Euro zone likely entering recession as price rises hit demand -PMI") a five-month high, with a net balance of +46. Rubinsohn said the rental market remains hugely constrained by the lack of [homes to rent](https://www.financedigest.com/still-living-at-home-a-third-of-the-nation-cant-afford-to-rent.html "Still living at home? A third of the nation can’t afford to rent"). (Reporting by Suban Abdulla; editing by David Milliken) --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. ---