The UK Residential Market Survey is used by the government, the Bank of England and other key institutions, including the IMF, as an indicator of current and future conditions in UK residential sales and lettings. It is covered extensively in the media and is the leading source of market intelligence, highly regarded both by investors and across the industry.

The June 2024 report has just been released and shows:

Current conditions remain subdued but the market is expected to regain some impetus in the months ahead.

The June 2024 RICS Residential Survey results continue to point to a relatively subdued market backdrop at present, with indicators on buyer demand, sales and prices remaining in slightly negative territory. That said, despite recent months showing a softening in momentum, respondents expectations have now turned a little more optimistic with regards to the near-term outlook for sales activity.

At a headline level, the new buyer enquiries measure posted a net balance reading of -7% in June, broadly in-line with the figure of -8% returned last month. As such, this indicator continues to signal a modest weakening in demand from home buyers, marking the third month in succession in which enquiries have reportedly slowed.

At the same time, the newly agreed sales gauge posted a net balance of -7% this month, marginally less negative than the reading of -13% seen in the previous iteration of the survey. These two downbeat readings following a brief period of recovery earlier in the year, which looks to have slipped into reverse of late. Notwithstanding this, forward-looking sentiment has improved in the latest results. Indeed, a net balance of +20% of respondents now foresee residential sales volumes recovering over the next three months. This is up from a reading of +10% last month and does in fact represent the most upbeat figure for the near-term sales expectations indicator since January 2022.

Meanwhile, the flow of new instructions coming onto the sales market slowed during June, evidenced by a net balance reading of -9% being registered. Interestingly, this brings to an end a sequence of six consecutive positive monthly.

• Buyer demand metric continues to sit in slightly negative territory

• National house prices are still seeing some downward pressure

• However, the outlook does appear to be brightening somewhat, with near-term sales expectations improving noticeably