(Alliance News) - The UK housing market remained subdued in February with near-term expectations suffering from economic and political uncertainty stemming from the Middle East conflict, an industry association reported Thursday.
Based on the most recent UK residential market survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, there was continued downward pressure on UK house prices.
The net balance for house prices, which represents the proportion of survey respondents reporting an increase in prices minus those reporting a fall, fell slightly to minus 12% in February from minus 10% in January.
The FXStreet-cited consensus forecast had expected a reading of minus 9% for February.
Agreed sales posted a net balance of minus 12% in February, versus minus 9% in January.
"That said, the latest figure remains somewhat less downcast than those recorded over much of the past six months, albeit the likely unwinding of the recent easing in mortgage interest rates (on the back of greater inflationary pressures) poses a significant headwind moving forward," the Rics report said.
Near term sales expectations recorded a net balance of minus 2%, the softest reading since November, compared to January's reading of plus 4%.
However, looking ahead a net balance of plus 17% of respondents now expect sales activity to pick up over the next 12 months, easing from plus 35% in January.
"Survey results paint a mixed picture. While some contributors point to a more encouraging start to the year in terms of activity, more recently, this momentum appears to have been tempered by heightened geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty following the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East.
"As a result, near-term expectations have suffered a renewed setback, even though the twelve-month outlook for the market remains broadly positive for now," the Rics report said.
The Rics survey of chartered surveyors operating in the residential sales and lettings market is conducted over a two week period towards the end of each month.
By Elijah Dale, Alliance News senior reporter Asia-Pacific
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