RICS house price balance improves to -28% in August as agreed sales reach their strongest since February

The RICS UK Residential Market Survey for August put the headline house price net balance at -28%, up from -29% in July and the fourth successive improvement since April's low of -35%. Activity readings moved the same way, with new buyer enquiries at -19%, their least negative since January, and agreed sales at -17%, the strongest since February, while new instructions were flat at zero and market appraisals ran 17% below the same period a year earlier. For sellers, softening price falls alongside a thin pipeline of new listings makes realistic pricing more important than waiting for a rebound, and for buyers it points to modestly less competition heading into the autumn. Every headline activity measure remains in negative territory, however, and RICS warns that shifting interest rate expectations are a significant headwind to any recovery.