UK surveyors report fastest house price growth since September 2022

By David Milliken

LONDON (Reuters) - British property surveyors reported the fastest rise in house prices since September 2022 in December and a continued increase in sales and new buyer enquiries, in contrast to the more mixed picture from some other housing market surveys.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said on Thursday that its monthly house price balance - which measures the difference between the percentages of surveyors seeing rises and falls in prices over the previous three months - rose to +28% in December from +24% in November.

That was the survey's highest reading since just before Prime Minister Liz Truss' "mini-budget" in September 2022 that led to a spike in government borrowing costs and mortgage rates and a steep fall in house purchases.

Government bond yields rose again through December and surged at the start of 2025 - with 30-year gilt yields increasing to their highest since 1998 - although the impact on mortgage rates and availability has so far been much more limited than in 2022.

RICS chief economist Simon Rubinsohn said December's survey "points to a further improvement in sentiment in the housing market despite concerns about the potential impact of rising bond yields on borrowing costs."

The net balance of surveyors expecting house prices to rise over the coming 12 months rose to +53%.

The near-term expectations balance for rents jumped to +37% from +29%, reflecting a shortage of rental properties as landlords sold up.

The stronger price trend echoes that shown in official data for sales completed in November - where prices were up 3.3%, the most since February 2023 - and in December data from lender Nationwide which showed a 4.7% rise, the most since late 2022.

However, December data from rival lender Halifax showed the first monthly price fall since March and Bank of England mortgage approvals figures dropped to the lowest since August.

Economists polled by Reuters in November forecast British house prices would rise an average 3.1% in 2025, while rents would rise by 4-5%.

(Reporting by David Milliken; editing by Suban Abdulla)