Brexit ramps up pressure on housing market

That’s the verdict of the latest Royal Instiution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and Ulster Bank Residential Market Survey.

While the province is still riding higher in the water that the rest of the UK, the March results show that the headline balance of respondents perceiving a rise in residential property prices over the last month remained in positive territory, but continues to ease back.

Recent optimism for near-term prices has also dropped to a flat rate.

Current activity has experienced a slight slump, as new buyer enquiries and new instructions both took a downturn in March.

It is therefore expected that the rate of sales in the coming three months will drop.

Commentary from survey respondents noted a perceived ‘wait and see’ approach amongst both prospective buyers and sellers, in the absence of a definitive Brexit outcome.

Neverthless, the underlining mood is that surveyors remain optimistic and believe that prices will rise within the next 12 months as sales regain growth.

“While the results do paint a challenging picture for the NI residential market, comments from surveyors are pointing towards an incoming increase in first-time buyer properties,” said RICS residential property spokesman Samuel Dickey.

“This group in particular may welcome the easing rise in house prices and contribute to the positive longer-term outlook. Overall, the market remains relatively strong despite the headwinds and uncertainty of Brexit.”

Terry Robb, head of personal banking at Ulster Bank, said: “Some people are perhaps taking a wait and see approach before deciding upon a move or purchase, but sales in the new build market in particular are currently quite strong and this is reflected in a steady demand for mortgages.

“With an increasingly supply of new build properties reported to be coming onto the market, this also bodes well for first time buyer activity in the months ahead.”