Market Index

'A short-term boost appears likely from a government already in pre-election giveaway mode,' writes Knight Frank's Tom Bill.

"There is no real prospect of significantly improved rental supply in the near term," says the Zoopla team, "as private landlords continue to sell off homes due to tax and regulatory changes and renters…

Surveyors have reported the steepest decline in home-buyer enquiries since the early days of the pandemic.

"Global housing markets have wrongfooted us this quarter," says the Knight Frank research team, as property markets continued to post strong growth.

"It is too early to predict when escalating cost-of-living pressures will begin to bear down on effective demand," says UK Finance.

Top agency's August market snapshot tells of easing buyer demand across the country - but there's a "strong appetite" for higher-value homes in prime London.

Rising mortgage costs are likely to dampen the property market in the coming months, says Zoopla.

City centre rents are rising fast as stock levels drop, says Hamptons, although the national headline rate of rental price inflation continues to ease.

The average UK property price increased by 1% from May to June this year, according to the latest official House Price Index.

"The change in economic headwinds is starting to be reflected in seller confidence," says OnTheMarket.

"Prices usually drop in August, and this 1.3% drop is on a par with the average August drop over the past ten years," explains the Rightmove team.

"It is little surprise that housing market activity is now losing some momentum," says the RICS - but most surveyors "still anticipate prices will be modestly higher than current levels in a year’s time.