RICS House Price Survey, which measures the gap between the number of estate agents seeing rises and falls in house prices, has improved for the seventh consecutive month.
March 2024 saw the house price balance, a metric contrasting the percentage of respondents reporting price rises versus falls, jump to -4% from February's -10%.
This adjustment marks the most positive outlook on house prices since October 2022, surpassing the anticipated -6%, said the surveyors.
Sentiment improved in regions across the UK, including Scotland and Northern Ireland, and either became less negative or turned positive since the year's onset.
Specifically, Scotland and Northern Ireland's house price net balances have advanced into expansionary territory, recording +21% and +60% respectively, up from February's +10% and +53%.
Respondents to the survey said they expected prices to grow further over the next twelve months.
Watch out for spring storms
But Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at Hargreaves Lansdown, warned that “the housing market right now is as reliable as the spring weather… You might set out with expectations of sunny skies, and walk straight into a rain storm”.
“It’s so patchy right now that estate agents in the same regions are reporting wildly different experiences. However, on the plus side, they’re forecasting clearer skies as we move into the summer.”
Coles noted that more upbeat sentiment and expectations of rate cuts are persuading buyers and sellers back to the market in increasing numbers. “They're not yet rushing to agree sales or push prices up, but agents are confident that this is on the way once the weather cheers up and mortgage rates fall.”
As for the negatives: “Agents across the country say that while buyers are back, demand is fragile, buyers are prone to changing their mind, and chains are still collapsing”.
“Others say that the resurgence of supply means overpriced properties aren’t selling, and that buyers are driving a hard bargain.”