RICS house price balance stays at -28% in August as rent expectations jump to +44%

The RICS residential market survey published on 10 September put the August house price net balance at -28%, barely moved from -29% in July, while the three-month rent expectations balance rose from +33% to +44%. The shift is on the sales side: new buyer enquiries came in at -19% and agreed sales at -17%, both the least negative readings since the start of the year, with new instructions steady at 0%, so the supply overhang that weighed on pricing through the spring is no longer widening. For buyers that means pricing power is still on their side even as competition slowly returns; for sellers it means offers are easier to come by than in the spring, though asking prices set without regard to that price balance will still struggle to attract them. The caveat is that a net balance measures the spread of surveyor opinion rather than the size of any price fall, and RICS itself calls the recovery fragile, with members expecting rents to rise by around 3% over the next 12 months.