UK house prices continued to increase in May driven by robust demand and shortfall of new instructions, survey results from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, or RICS, showed on Thursday.
The house price balance rose to 83 percent in May from 76 percent in April. This was the fourth successive month in which upward pressure on house price seemingly intensified, RICS said.
A net 45 percent of respondents expect house prices to rise in the near-term, which was virtually unchanged from the net 47 percent in April.
Likewise, twelve month price expectations remained elevated, with a net balance of +64 percent of contributors anticipating an increase over the year to come.
The survey showed that underpinning the recent acceleration in price growth, new instructions coming onto the market have become increasingly scarce over recent months, with the latest net balance coming in at -23 percent compared to -4 percent in April.
As a result, the gap between the new buyer enquires and new instructions series reached its widest since November 2013.
A net 32 percent of survey participants reported an increase in new buyer enquiries in May, marking the third straight positive monthly reading for the indicator.
Newly agreed sales also increased in May, evidenced by a net balance of +30 percent of contributors reporting an increase.
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