DAVY VIEW

This morning’s Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) survey shows UK house prices and activity picking up following Rishi Sunak’s March Budget, extending the stamp duty holiday and launching the new mortgage guarantee scheme. Price expectations are now sharply back in positive territory (+42%), with a marked rebound in new buyer enquiries and instructions to sell. Given the additional stimulus, it is not surprising that recent house price forecasts now envisage a mid-single-digit gain, similar to current 5-6% inflation rates, in 2021.