Home sellers hit 3-year high

Published 14th Jul 2010

The number of home sellers has hit a three-year high, raising further fears that house prices are set for a fall.


In the respected monthly survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, fears have been raised that sellers are outnumbering buyers. This is the reverse of last year, when a stark shortage of sellers, nervous about the recession, caused a surprise recovery in the housing market.

If sellers continue to outnumber buyers there is a strong likelihood that prices, already slipping, will fall further. Last week Halifax said that house prices had fallen for the third month in a row.

The Rics survey said that 27 per cent more Chartered Surveyors reported a rise than a fall in people putting their houses on the market, up from 22 per cent in May and the highest reading since May 2007 – just a few months before the market crashed.

The Coalition Government's decision to scrap Home Information Packs is considered the main reason why many reluctant sellers have now decided to put their property on the market.

John Andrews, a fellow of Rics, from the estate agency Doolittle & Dalley in Worcestershire, said: "Buyers still very cautious and reluctant to commit. Abolition of HIPs has brought a lot of property to the market, such that now sellers exceed buyers."

Many experts are now forecasting that house prices are likely to fall in the second half of the year. The Rics survey found that four per cent more chartered surveyors expected prices to fall over the next few months. This is a turnaround from the positive reading of last month.

Jeremy Leaf, a leading estate agent and spokesman for Rics, said: “A shortage of stock has been one factor holding back transaction activity in the housing market but the abolition of HIPS is helping to belatedly address this issue. This is likely to be reflected in higher sales numbers over the coming months. However, with supply of property now beginning to outstrip demand there is a risk of some modest slippage in prices during the second half of the year.”

Halifax's house price index last week suggested the average home is now worth £166,203, with prices falling 0.6 per cent in June, 0.5 per cent in May and 0.1 per cent in April.

Source: ' Telegraph '

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