Overview

• Buyer enquiries and agreed sales turned negative in the July RICS survey, pushing the national house-price balance down to minus 13%.
• Fresh rental listings fell at the fastest pace since April 2020, with surveyors reporting a net 31% drop in new landlord instructions.
• Surveyors anticipate rents rising by a net 25% over the next three months due to constrained supply of rental properties.
• A split 5–4 Bank of England rate cut and an unclear path for further reductions are clouding market expectations despite two-year fixed mortgage rates easing below 5%.
• Regional conditions diverged sharply, with price declines in East Anglia, the South East and the South West, while Northern Ireland, Scotland and parts of the North West saw modest growth.