Housing market activity picked up as 2024 ended and expectations for the year ahead are “solidly positive,” surveyors have reported.
A net balance of 5% of property professionals reported new buyer inquiries rising rather than falling in December, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) said.
Sales volumes have risen, with a net balance of 7% of respondents indicating sale growth, compared with a balance of 1% in November.
There was also a bounce in new instructions to sell in December, with a net balance of 14% of professionals seeing rises rather than falls.
This is the sixth month in a row where the study has indicated an increase in houses being listed for sale.
Rics said that, in general, house prices rose across the UK, with professionals in Northern Ireland and Scotland reporting the strongest price growth.
In the lettings market, tenant demand has stabilised, although a diminishing supply of homes to rent means further rent rises are expected, the report added.
Rics chief economist, Simon Rubinsohn, said the research points “to a further improvement in sentiment in the housing market”.
He added: “Buyer inquiries rose once again, albeit at a slower pace than in November, and the headline price indicator also moved higher.
“More significantly, the signals from the survey around expectations over the next 12 months also remain solidly positive for now.
“However, the resilience of the uplift in market mood could be tested if the mortgage rates do begin to climb in a material way over the coming months.
“That, critically, would also be a concern for developers who will want to see a solid market as a backdrop for ramping up housebuilding to help meet the Government’s ambitious 1.5 million homes target for this Parliament.”
