Property prices in Yorkshire weakening fast
HOUSE prices in Yorkshire and Humber fell at their fastest rate since July 2005 last month, according to a Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) UK housing market survey.
Nearly 60% of the region's chartered surveyors reported a drop rather than a rise in property prices compared with 40.6% nationally.
Surveyor confidence in property prices also fell to its lowest level in the survey's history. Confidence in the sales outlook plummeted to its lowest level since December 2001.
Surveyors reported price falls across all regions in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Scotland was the only region in the survey where surveyors reported a positive trend in house prices.
Jennifer Welch, RICS North operations director said it was clear that the housing market continued to feel the strain of depressed market conditions.
“The recent credit crunch continues to hit confidence in the market, with Chartered Surveyors feeling the most pessimistic about price expectations since 1998,” she said.
“While underlying economic fundamentals remain sound and the labour market remains strong, large falls in prices remain unlikely. Employment would have to fall sharply before enough supply entered the market to create a significant dip. ”
However, the report found that sustained weakness in demand, combined with loosening supply conditions is resulting in greater stocks of property on surveyors' books contradicting earlier reassurances that the UK would escape a housing market crash because demand outstrips supply.
The stock of unsold property jumped by 8.7%, following last month's rise of 9.7%. As a result, the ratio of completed sales over the last three months compared to the stock of unsold property on the market fell to 33.1%.
Nationally, new instructions to sell fell for the sixth consecutive month, with the only exceptions in the South East and Wales, and the balance of newly agreed sales declined at the fastest pace since April 1999.
New buyer enquiries in Yorkshire fell for the seventh consecutive month, with the pace of decline rising.
