The expectation comes after a decline in both housing demand and supply in June.
In the past three months, a net balance of 36% of respondents from Northern Ireland reported an increase in house prices. However, looking ahead to the next three months, only a net balance of 4% of respondents from Northern Ireland expressed positive price expectations. This suggests a largely stagnant market, coinciding with decreased indicators for new buyer enquiries and agreed sales.
This compares to the national average of -55%. So, whilst local surveyors expect a broadly flat picture, their outlook is much less pessimistic than surveyors in other regions of the UK.
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In relation to the demand indicators, they fell to their lowest level since mid-2020. A net balance of -47% of respondents reported lower levels of new buyer enquiries. This largely is in line with what can be seen across the UK, with the UK average sitting at -45%.
Also falling to its lowest level since mid-2020 is supply. A net balance of -48% of respondents reported a fall in new properties coming onto the market in June, down from 8% in May and 14% in April.
Meanwhile, looking at transactions, a net balance of -33% of NI respondents reported a fall in newly agreed sales, which is unsurprising with the limited appetite and stock.
Samuel Dickey, RICS Northern Ireland Residential Property Spokesman, said: "The first half of 2023 saw relatively steady demand until June when surveyors pointed to both lower levels of new buyer enquires and new sales last month. This probably isn’t surprising given recent hikes in interest rates and changes in lenders’ mortgage offerings. Anecdotally we know though that there is quite a lot of variation in the market, with some areas of NI seeing much stronger demand than others. In my experience, where buyers are pricing properties realistically, sales continue to take place, and in some cases, we continue to see competitive bidding. This is particularly true in areas of the market and in relation to property types where supply is limited. Looking ahead, despite a range of economic challenges, NI respondents overall remain more confident about prices and activity over the next year than their counterparts elsewhere in the UK."
