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In the final major property market prediction this side of Christmas, RICS says the number of transactions in 2014 will rise from this year’s expected 1.05m to 1.2m - a high compared with recent years but still well below the 2006 total of 1.67m.
All parts of the UK will see rises but RICS predicts significant variations. Specifically;
East of England, 10 per cent rise
East Midlands, 10 per cent
London, 11 per cent
North East, five per cent
Northern Ireland, four per cent
North West England, seven per cent
Scotland, seven per cent
South East, seven per cent
South West, seven per cent
Wales, seven per cent
West Midlands, seven per cent
Yorkshire and Humberside, seven per cent.
The roundness of those figures will add fuel to the debate over whether the RICS’s analysis of the housing market - which draws this data from the opinions of a small number of surveyors across the whole country - is as authoritative as some believe.
“The cost of a house is now picking-up right across the country. The improving economic picture aside, this is largely down to the fact that buyer numbers considerably outweigh the amount of homes on the market” says Peter Bolton King, RICS global residential director.
“While the number of new homes being built is now on the rise, it still won’t be anywhere near enough to meet demand and we expect the problem of insufficient housing stock to be the main driver behind price increases over the next 12 months” he says.
Between Christmas and New Year, housing data consultancy Hometrack is expected to issue its 2014 prediction. It will appear on this blog as soon as it is released.
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