UK housing market activity suffered a sharp slowdown in December due to the latest coronavirus-related restrictions.

According to the latest residential market survey from RICS, although activity within the housing market continued to rise, there has been a considerable drop in momentum, a trend which seems set to continue.

The RICS research revealed a net balance of a +15% increase in new buyer enquiries last month, down from +26% in November, reports Property Industry Eye.

The poll carried out in December, based on responses of surveyors throughout the UK, also shows the number of agreed sales slowed down, with a net balance of +18% last month compared to +24% the month before.

Moreover, near term sales expectations fell to -22% from -6% in November, "likely reflecting the renewed pressures induced by the pandemic in recent weeks," RICS said. 

According to the response from a net balance of +65% of respondents, UK property prices have continued to rise.

London was singled out as the “only region where house price inflation appears somewhat muted”, with the latest net balance for the capital at +7%, down from November’s reading of +13%.

Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, commented: “The housing market was still running hot in December, as prospective buyers mobilised before the threshold for stamp duty returns to £125,000 from £500,000 at the end of March.”

He continued: “Nonetheless, timelier Google Trends data suggest that the market is now starting to cool: the number of people visiting one of the three main property websites has merely been in line with seasonal norms so far this year, having exceeded its 2016-19 average by about 20% through the second half of last year.

“The cooling off in demand likely will be amplified as vaccines are rolled out, making people happier with their pre-Covid housing choices once again, and by a rise in unemployment,” he added.