Commentary by Ruban Selvanayagam

• According to the latest UK House Price Index, average house prices saw an annual price rise of 1.2% (to April 2019);
• The latest Hometrack UK Cities House Price Index reported the highest level of year-on-year growth in Edinburgh (5.1%) followed by Liverpool (4.9%), Cardiff (4.7%), Nottingham (4.7%), Leicester (4.6%), Manchester (4.1%) and Birmingham (4.0%). According to the same data, London saw a 0% change in house prices and Cambridge saw a 0.3% drop;
• HMRC data revealed that transaction levels fell by 16.5% between June 2018 and June 2019;
• Despite the ongoing Brexit-led pessimism, the latest Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) report stated that there has been an increase in buyer enquiries after declines over the initial part of 2019. 12-month expectations are indicating growth in sales volumes and prices.