UK housing market dormant in February, RICS data shows

The housing market in the UK remained dormant in February, although falling supply continued to prop up price gains - albeit at multi-year lows - the results of a widely-followed survey revealed.

RICS's house price balance remained at +24 in February, unchanged from January's downwardly revised print.

That was slightly ahead of the +23 reading forecast by economists, despite which the house price balance remained well below the +40 average level seen in the three years prior to the referendum vote.

Stagnation in households' real incomes and the stabilisation in mortgage rates were the chief drivers behind the flattish trend in prices, said Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

New buyer enquiries stagnated, the first such instance since September, while the new sales instructions balance dropped further.

Meanwhile, stock levels on agents' books were still near their record lows.

Tombs added: "Looking ahead, the Budget was devoid of any new measures to support the housing market and high inflation looks set to prevent real wages from rising until the second half of 2018. As a result, housing demand will remain too weak throughout 2017 to create enough upward price momentum to bring sellers back to the market."