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Scottish surveyors optimistic despite fall off in new buyer demand

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Scottish surveyors optimistic despite fall off in new buyer demand

Home sales in Scotland are expected to rise over the next three months, despite a falloff in new buyer enquiries during June, according to the latest Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Residential Market Survey.

A net balance of 26% of respondents to the survey in Scotland expect the number of sales to rise through the third quarter, up from the 22% seen in May and 8% in April.




Surveyors also remain upbeat about prices, with a net balance of 18% of respondents anticipating that prices will rise over the next three months. This follows a positive past three months, when the headline price balance remained at +29%.

Demand, however, is reported to have fallen through June. A net balance of -26% of surveyors reported that new buyer enquiries decreased in the most recent survey after a period of five months, when this balance was in positive territory.

Surveyors in Scotland also note that supply was lower last month, with a net balance of -32% of respondents reporting a decrease in new instructions to sell, the lowest this balance has been in just under a year.

With supply and demand both subdued, it is unsurprising that a net balance of -15% of surveyors in Scotland reported a fall in sales, down from 4% in May.

Anecdotally, respondents pointed to factors including the election, the Euros and the Bank of England holding interest rates as factors in slower enquiries and newly agreed sales over the past month.

On the lettings front, the imbalance between supply and demand continues to drive rents up, however at a less severe rate than reported in May. A net balance of 33% of surveyors in Scotland reported a rise in demand (down from 57%), and a net balance of -17% of respondents noted a fall in landlord instructions (down from falling flat in May).

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