UK house sales decline

Gloomy outlook: Signs outside residential properties in London. Sales expectations for the next 12 months are at the lowest level since March 2020. — Bloomberg

LONDON: The United Kingdom housing market came under further pressure from the cost-of-living crisis in July as sales and buyer demand fell, and agents turned increasingly gloomy on the outlook, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) say.

The closely-watched survey showed sales expectations for the next 12 months are at the lowest level since March 2020, and new buyer inquiries fell for a third month – the longest run since the early days of the pandemic. Measures of current sales also fell.