Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 12, 2026
2 min readLast updated: February 12, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleThe RICS survey indicates early signs of recovery in the UK housing market, with improvements in buyer enquiries and house prices, suggesting a gradual recovery.
Feb 12 (Reuters) - The downturn in Britain's housing market abated in January, according to a report published on Thursday by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) which added to recent signs of a recovery.
The survey found improvements in RICS' measures of new buyer enquiries and house prices and followed reports from mortgage lenders Nationwide and Halifax that showed rising house prices last month.
There have been other suggestions of an improvement in the economy in early 2026 which analysts have linked to a removal of the uncertainty about tax increases in finance minister Rachel Reeves' budget in late November.
KEY DETAILS
• RICS' house price balance rose to -10%, the highest reading since June and up from a revised -13% in December. A Reuters poll of economists had pointed to a reading of -11.
• A gauge of new buyer enquiries rose to -15% from -21%, the highest reading since July.
• "There are early signs that market conditions may be improving after a challenging period, although activity levels are still subdued, meaning any recovery is likely to be gradual," Simon Rubinsohn, RICS chief economist, said.
• RICS' gauge of optimism for sales over the next 12 months jumped to the highest level since December 2024.
(Reporting by Andy Bruce, editing by William Schomberg)
The RICS survey is a report published by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors that assesses trends in the UK housing market, including buyer inquiries and house prices.
House prices refer to the monetary value of residential properties, which can fluctuate based on market demand, economic conditions, and other factors.
Buyer inquiry refers to the interest expressed by potential homebuyers in purchasing properties, often measured in surveys to gauge market activity.
The UK housing market encompasses all transactions related to buying, selling, and renting residential properties in the United Kingdom.
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