House prices in Wales continued to edge upwards at amongst the firmest rates in the UK, but other key indicators softened, according to the April RICS Residential Market Survey.

A net balance of +95% of Welsh respondents to the latest survey said that house prices rose in the latest report, and the expectations of surveyors are that prices will continue to rise in the next three months. But activity in the market weakened according to the survey.

There were fewer new buyer enquiries in April according to Welsh surveyors (a net balance of -15% of respondents) and there were fewer newly agreed sales reported (a net balance of -17% of respondents). The outlook for activity also softened with a net balance of +13% of respondents expecting sales to rise in the next three months compared to +27% in the previous survey.

One of the main trends at present is a lack of homes coming onto the market. The net balance for new instructions to sell was -10%, suggesting that there were fewer properties being listed by potential sellers.

Andrew Morgan FRICS of Morgan and Davies in Lampeter said:

“There is still a shortage of good stock underpinning market demand and results”.

Paul Lucas FRICS RK Lucas & Sons in Haverfordwest said:

“Activity is notably less but agreed sale prices remain high as there is so little choice around.”

RICS Economist, Tarrant Parsons, commented:

“For the time being at least, even though there is a lot of caution about the future economic landscape, it seems that limited supply available on the market, coupled with steady demand growth, are still the overriding drivers of house prices. As such, there is little evidence at this stage of house price inflation losing much momentum, while expectations for the coming twelve months have only moderated slightly from recent highs.”