The latest survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors suggests the UK housing market is again tilting towards price falls, painting a mixed and regionally uneven picture of activity on the ground. The monthly snapshot, compiled from responses by RICS members — estate agents and surveyors across the country — found more respondents reporting house prices slipping in their areas than those seeing rises. According to the RICS press release, that national net balance was negative for July, reinforcing anecdotal reports from agents about a softer sales market. (RICS members’ comments were published in the Daily Mail’s coverage of the survey.)

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After months of patchy performance, the weakest readings were concentrated in East Anglia, where surveyors reported the steepest three‑month falls. “Buyers are making offers with limited commitment. Vendors still want to achieve high prices but cannot support their levels currently,” John Frost, a RICS member in East Anglia, told the Daily Mail. Several local agents pointed to a particular oversupply of flats following a wave of landlords exiting the sector — a factor that, combined with subdued buyer confidence, has left smaller properties difficult to shift. Zaman Sheikh, a RICS surveyor in Chelmsford, told the Daily Mail that flats were “becoming more difficult to sell.”
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More RICS members also reported price falls in London, the South East, the South West and Yorkshire and the Humber, reflecting continuing weakness in higher‑priced and commuter‑belt markets. “Only some vendors are recognising the need for realistic pricing in order to attract attention in view of stock overload,” Jeremy Leaf, a north London estate agent and former RICS chairman, told the Daily Mail, adding that much of the current stock was overpriced. Another London‑based RICS member, James Perris, said the market was further dented by “high transactional taxes” and buyers choosing to relocate overseas to more favourable tax regimes.
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By contrast, respondents in Scotland, Northern Ireland and parts of the North West reported house price gains. Thomas Baird, a RICS member in Scotland, told the Daily Mail there had been an “injection of confidence” into the Scottish market after a recent cut in Bank of England rates helped nudge activity higher. RICS’ own reporting shows this regional divergence has been a recurring feature through the summer months.
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Beyond prices, the survey signalled softer demand in parts of England: a greater number of RICS members reported falls in new buyer enquiries and in sales agreed than reported increases, particularly in East Anglia and the South East. At the same time, respondents flagged continuing rental market pressure as landlord instructions dropped and tenant demand remained elevated, a theme echoed by sector coverage which warned that landlord exits are likely to keep upward pressure on rents. Mortgage and estate‑agent trade summaries described the market in July as stabilising rather than recovering, with activity still at subdued levels.
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RICS’ chief economist, Simon Rubinsohn, cautioned that while a recent reduction in the base rate has lifted sentiment, uncertainty about future Bank of England moves and the contents of the Chancellor’s autumn budget were tempering confidence. “Although interest rates were lowered at the latest Bank of England meeting, the split vote has raised doubts about both the timing and extent of further reductions,” he said in RICS’ commentary accompanying the survey. Reuters and other analysts have noted that earlier transactional distortions — notably buyers bringing purchases forward ahead of April’s property tax rise — have eased, allowing the more persistent, underlying regional differences to re‑emerge.
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Broader market indicators provide a mixed backdrop. Nationwide’s house‑price series recorded a sharper monthly drop in June — a fall that media coverage attributed in part to the withdrawal of some temporary stamp‑duty incentives and weaker demand — leaving the average price lower than in recent months. At the same time, official government data published earlier in the year showed average UK prices remained above their level a year earlier, underscoring how annual and monthly measures can point in different directions; the Office for National Statistics’ House Price Index for March 2025 put the average UK price at roughly £271,000, with notable regional variation.
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Looking ahead, RICS respondents were more likely to expect prices to edge down over the coming three months than to rise, yet the majority still anticipate modest increases over a 12‑month horizon. Analysts and trade commentators generally expect any recovery to be gradual and dependent on further falls in mortgage rates and clearer policy signals from the Bank of England; sellers, they warn, will need to price realistically if they are to attract the smaller pool of active buyers, particularly for flats and lower‑value units where competition is highest.
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Source: Noah Wire Services