RICS September survey: new buyer enquiries slip to -22% and the house-price balance to -32%, the first month since March that the demand reading failed to improve

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors' UK Residential Market Survey for September, on its site this week, opens with three lines: "Buyer demand remains subdued, while near-term sales expectations have edged back into marginally negative territory"; "House prices continue to face modest downward pressure at the headline level"; "Twelve-month expectations for both market activity and house prices are now broadly flat". The cause it names: "the recent rise in interest rate expectations has stalled the previous run of slightly less negative results".

Demand and sales. "the new buyer enquiries indicator registered a net balance of -22% in September, slipping marginally from -18% beforehand. This represents the first month since March 2026 in which the indicator has failed to become less negative." It "remains comfortably above the recent low of -41% recorded six months ago". Agreed sales "posted a net balance of -18%, marginally weaker than the -16% recorded previously"; near-term sales expectations eased "to -6% from -3%".

Supply. "a net balance of +6% of respondents reported an increase in sales listings in September, marking the first reading in positive territory since mid-2025", though "the volume of market appraisals undertaken recently remains below the equivalent trend seen twelve months ago".

Prices. "the headline house price net balance slipped to -32% from -28% in the previous month", which "breaks a run of four consecutive months in which the indicator had become gradually less negative". Most of England moved "slightly deeper into negative territory", London "notably weaker than the national headline"; "house prices continue to rise in Northern Ireland, while Scotland is also reporting a modest degree of price growth". Three-month price expectations stand at -24%; over twelve months "the net balance of zero points to a broadly flat trend emerging" - "a downgrade from the slightly stronger outlook reported a couple of months ago".

Lettings. "a net balance of +23% of survey participants reported an increase in tenant demand", the third month running the balance has risen; landlord instructions remain "firmly entrenched in negative territory"; "+37% of contributors expects rents to rise over the next three months", down from +44% in August but above "the +27% average seen during the first half of the year".

How to read it. The report's own warning: a net balance is the "Proportion of respondents reporting a rise in prices minus those reporting a fall"; it "measures breadth (how widespread e.g. price falls or rises are on balance), rather than depth", and "a reading of +10 should not be interpreted as RICS saying that house prices are going up by 10%". The headline readings cover England and Wales; "This survey sample covers 422 branches coming from 193 responses". The October survey is due 12 November.