UK house market slows in March - Rics
By Abigail Townsend
Date: Thursday 10 Apr 2025
(Sharecast News) - Activity across the UK housing market slowed last month, an industry survey showed on Thursday, as price growth flattened out and new buyer demand slowed.
According to the latest Residential Market Survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, the house price balance fell to 2 in March, from 11 in February and 20 in January.
New buyer demand, meanwhile, declined from -16 a month earlier to -32, the weakest reading since September 2023.
Respondents said the rush to complete sales before changes to stamp duty came into effect on 1 April tailed off as the month wore on.
Agreed sales were also marginally softer, down three points on February at -16.
Looking ahead, a majority of survey participants still expect sales volumes to rise long term. But they were more cautious shorter-term, with the three-month sales expectations pointing to a further dip in activity.
Rics noted: "Looking to next month, the impact on the UK property market from newly-imposed US global tariffs and potential tariff responses by other nations may stimulate further uncertainty going forward."
Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist at Rics, said: "The expiry of the stamp duty break was always going to lead to a pause in activity in the sales market.
"However, the latest results, and indeed the anecdotal remarks from respondents to the survey, suggest that the shift in sentiment has been aggravated by the slew of negative macro news flow over the past few weeks.
"Looking forward, the impact on the market will in no small part depend on how the economy is affected by the emerging trade war and the response of the Bank of England to the shifting environment."
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