Price growth fell to an 11-month low last month due to ongoing political concerns.
House price growth in the UK fell to an 11-month low in June on the back of domestic political concerns, reported Reuters.
“The term ‘uncertainty’ is featuring more heavily in the feedback we are receiving,” said Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ (RICS) chief economist Simon Rubinsohn. “This seems to be exerting itself on transaction levels, which are flatlining and may continue to do so.”
RICS’ monthly house price index fell from 17 in May to 7 in June.
About 44 percent of its members attributed the slower property sales to domestic political uncertainty following Prime Minister Theresa May’s unexpected failure to win a parliamentary majority in the recent election.
Only 27 percent cited the upcoming departure of Britain from the European Union. However, Brexit and property taxes have played a bigger role in London, where high-end properties continue to witness widespread price falls.
Prices also marginally dropped within the surrounding areas of southeast England, but increased in most areas of England, as well as Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.
“The latest results demonstrate the danger, however tempting, of talking about a single housing market across the country,” noted Rubinsohn.
He added that the lack of houses to sell also continued to be a problem. This comes as the number of properties put up for sale dropped for a 16th consecutive month.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
