UK House Prices' Fall Slows Down: RICS

House prices in England and Wales fell at their slowest annual pace in 1-1/2 years in the three months to May and completed sales hit a 9-month high in a sign the market may be over the worst, a survey showed on Tuesday.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors' monthly house price balance rose to -44.1 last month, its best reading since November 2007, from -58.7 in April. Analysts had forecast a reading of -51.0.

New buyer enquiries increased for the seventh month in a row and at their fastest rate since August 1999, RICS said. However, there were also fewer new homes being put up for sale.

"The survey also contains more definitive signs that the rebound in enquiries is now feeding through into increased transactions," RICS said.

The number of completed sales per surveyor over the last three months rose to 11.8 from 10.6 — the biggest monthly increase since April 2001 and the highest level since August 2008, RICS said.

The figures echo other recent indicators, suggesting house prices may be nearing a trough as people slowly regain the confidence to purchase a home and banks start lending again.

Surveys from mortgage lenders Halifax and Nationwide both showed house prices rose last month, while approvals for new home loans — a leading indicator of house prices — have edged up in recent months but still point to heft falls ahead.

And surveyors were optimistic that the improving trend would continue, with confidence in the sales outlook reaching its highest since RICS started polling for this information in October 1998.

House prices were still expected to fall, but surveyors were their least negative on the outlook since July 2007.

Average stocks of unsold property on surveyors' books fell to 58.4 in May, a 16 percent drop from April, however, this coincided with a continued drop in instructions to sell property.

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