The supply-demand imbalance continued to place upward pressure on house prices in November, the latest report from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) shows.
Participants in the monthly residential market survey provided a net balance of 13% for new buyer enquiries, up on the 11% recorded a month earlier, while a net balance of -18% saw new listings drop.
Estate agents now only have about 37 properties on their books on average, against around 42 back in January this year, RICS said.
The survey also gives a net balance of -9% for agreed sales, which is the fifth sequential month of negative results for this metric.
A net balance of 66% of respondents predict that prices will increase over the next 12 months on the back of the housing shortage.
There is also a lack of property stock in the lettings sector. A net balance of 48% saw an increase in demand while landlord instructions are marked by a net balance of -24%.
Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist at RICS, said: “Unless this [supply-demand imbalance] trend is reversed soon, transaction levels may flatline in 2022 with limited choice proving more significant than any shift in the interest rate environment for new buyers.”
Lawrence Bowles, director of residential research at Savills, commented: “The latest RICS data show that sales activity is still running far higher than normal levels, even after moderating since the stamp duty holiday ended.
“In November, the sales to stock ratio was 46%, compare to the 2017-2019 average of 34%. As people rush to move home before Christmas, we expect continued strong activity through the year and for 2021 to go down on record as a bumper year for home sales.
“With interest rate rises on the horizon and affordability set to tighten, we can’t expect this flurry of activity to continue indefinitely. We predict transactions will ease back to 1.24 million in 2022 – lower than this year, but still higher than the 2017-19 average [1.20 million].”
Tell us about it.
Is there a conveyancer who doesn’t have 70 – yes 70!? – clients each still. And that’s not because they took on too much, it’s because of just how many members of the public are out there who need a lawyer, compared to the number of lawyers available nationwide. So, everyone gets a lawyer, it just means it may be slower going due to the sheer number of home movers nationwide.
Most conveyancers are complaining about the volume of clients but my point isn’t the volume, it’s making sure that every single one still receives conveyancing where the legal work is done perfectly – that’s our stress, and number 1 priority. Way too many estate agents don’t realise, and are still asking ‘have you sent off your searches?’ etc etc – and yet we are all trying to look after 70 clients, and make no legal mistakes!!! Get that wrong any the referring estate agents and the law firm have their name dragged through the mud.
Sadly, that is what 2022/2023 will be about for many firms sadly – negligence claims.
So make sure that whilst incoming conveyancing revenue is certainly record-breaking for yet another year, we all get the legal work right – massive PR win for repeat business.
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And that’s not because they took on too much, it’s because of just how many members of the public are out there who need a lawyer, compared to the number of lawyers available nationwide.
Allow me to translate… they took on too much.
Sorry – there’s no getting away from that fact. An overstretched conveyancer is either going to do half-a-job to meet ‘timescales’, to the potential detriment of their client… or is going to fall behind said timescales to do the job good and proper, to the potential detriment of their client.
I’d far rather recommend (for those that don’t know, that’s a case passed to a conveyancer WITHOUT a referral fee swapping hands…) a person/company who I know would turn down business that they are too busy to deal with than grab it and **** it up.
And yes – I do know some that would do exactly that.
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