Residential property sector showing recovery signs

February 16, 2024 by Brendan O'Neill

Surveys and Statistics

The latest study looking at the residential section of the UK property market reveals that the first month of this year brought indicators of recovery across almost every metric.

This study was conducted by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). It shows that new instructions, agreed property sales and levels of demand among homebuyers all came out of the red over the course of January. The results also show hopeful signs for a more long-term recovery in this part of the market. Numbers of expected property sales for 2024 rose significantly, largely fuelled by the feeling that the Bank of England will further reduce rates.

The number of enquiries among new buyers also went up into positive territory during January. Enquiries hit +7% for the month, whereas in December they were at -3%. This rise in demand may not seem that large in itself, but it is necessary to go back to February 2022 to find the last month that the number of residential property enquiries was that high.

Agreed sales numbers hit positive territory during January too, reaching +5% compared with -5% for the last month of 2023. Among mortgage advisors who took part in the survey, +14% said that they are hopeful that the number of residential property sales will keep going up across the upcoming three-month period. A further +44% expect them to rise over the remainder of the year.

News of this nature is most likely of particular interest to those with the CeMAP qualification needed to work as a mortgage advisor.