House prices look set to continue to climb despite fall in buyers – survey

House prices in Scotland are expected to keep climbing despite a fall in the number of buyers, a market survey has found.

A net balance of 15% of respondents to May’s RICS Residential Market Survey expected prices to go up over the next three moments, while a net balance of 76% said house values had climbed over the past quarter.

But the market is showing signs of slowing, the survey found, with a net balance of minus 16% of respondents reporting a fall in new buyer enquiries, which may be impacting optimism in the market with sales expectations for the next three months falling flat.

Philip Lovegrove, of DHKK Ltd in Edinburgh, said: “Available stock is significantly reduced from this time last year and the margin paid above market value is starting to reduce.”

The survey of chartered surveyors found that a net balance of minus 10% reported a fall in new instructions to sell, indicating there may be limited supply.

Ian Morton, of Bradburne & Co in St Andrews, said the market slowdown was “probably due to economic uncertainty and fear of interest rises later this year”.

“There is a hesitation from sellers coming forward as they cannot find suitable properties to buy due to lack of supply,” he added.

Net balance data is opinion-based, RICS said, and a positive figure indicates more respondents are seeing increases than decreases. A negative figure suggests more respondents are seeing decreases than increases.