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Residential property sales wilt in cold snap
09/02/10
Edited by Bob Witham. Residential property prices continued to rise in January but bad weather hit market activity, with both buyer interest and new instructions to sell declining, according to new figures from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics).
Its latest member survey found a balance of 32 per cent of surveyors reported a rise in prices last month, up from 30 per cent in December.
However, a balance of 20 per cent said buyer enquiries fell during January - the first reported drop in 14 months.
Meanwhile, the number of properties coming on to the market dropped for the first time in seven months.
The average number of sales per firm dipped from 19 to 18, while the sales to stock ratio, which is seen as a key indicator of market slack and future prices, fell for the second month in a row.
Rics spokesman Ian Perry said: "The cold snap in January clearly had a huge impact upon both supply and demand in the housing market, with activity coming to a halt amidst the seasonal chaos."
According to Halifax, the average UK house price was £169,777 in January.
