RICS May 2026: buyer demand held at -34% for a second month. East Anglia was flagged as particularly weak. What it means for Huntingdonshire buyers and sellers.

The RICS May 2026 Residential Market Survey, published on 11 June, recorded buyer demand at a net balance of -34% for a second consecutive month. For the first time since January 2026, the key indicators have stopped getting worse. East Anglia was specifically named as one of the weakest regions for pricing conditions. For buyers and sellers in Huntingdon and Brampton, both findings have practical implications right now.

What does the RICS survey actually measure, and why is May different?

RICS surveys residential agents across the UK each month, asking whether buyer enquiries, agreed sales, and house prices were higher, lower, or broadly unchanged compared with the previous month. The net balance is the percentage of respondents reporting an increase minus those reporting a decrease. A reading of -34% means substantially more agents are reporting fewer buyers than more.

What makes May significant is not the number itself. -34% is weak. What matters is that it has stopped deteriorating. The net balance worsened month after month from January to March, reaching -40% in March before pulling back to -34% in April. May held at -34%. Agreed sales sat at -37%, flat from April. House prices at -35%, also flat. Near-term sales expectations rose to -25% from -32% in April. RICS head of market research Tarrant Parsons noted that "the recent downturn in activity may be beginning to stabilise." That is a careful phrase, not a celebration, but it is meaningfully different from the language used across the previous four months.

Why is East Anglia flagged as particularly weak for pricing?

East Anglia was one of the biggest beneficiaries of the post-pandemic move out from London. Huntingdonshire and wider Cambridgeshire saw strong price growth between 2020 and 2022 as buyers traded London commutes for A14 access to Cambridge and the prospect of East West Rail connections. That premium has been under pressure for the past 18 months.

With two-year fixed mortgage rates still at 5.65% in June 2026, affordability in East Anglia remains stretched compared with cheaper northern regions where the same rate buys a proportionally larger home. Cambridge city prices fell 1.2% in the year to April 2026, according to Zoopla. That softness has spread into the surrounding market. RICS agents in the region report that buyers are pushing back harder on asking prices than their counterparts in the North West or Northern Ireland, where affordability is considerably less constrained.

What does a -34% buyer demand reading mean for buyers in Huntingdonshire?

Fewer active buyers means less competition on individual properties. The June 2026 Rightmove report put available stock at a decade high across the UK. The RICS data confirms there are proportionally fewer buyers competing for that stock. In Huntingdonshire, this means more time to conduct due diligence before making an offer, more realistic responses from sellers to requests around condition or fixtures, and considerably less risk of being gazumped.

The near-term expectations figure improving from -32% to -25% suggests agents believe conditions will get more competitive over the next three months, not less. Buyers who have their finances in order now are working in a better environment than they are likely to find in September or October.

What should sellers in the patch do with this information?

Agreed sales at -37% means a meaningful proportion of listed properties are not finding buyers. That figure is not distributed evenly. Properties correctly priced for the current market and presented well are still selling. Properties priced at 2022 expectations, or with deferred maintenance not reflected in the asking price, are the ones sitting through multiple viewings with no offers.

If you are thinking about selling later this year, the window between now and late August is worth acting in. A property marketed in August can complete before Christmas. Waiting until January means launching into a spring market that brings more competing sellers as well as more buyers. The right starting point is a current market valuation from an estate agent who knows Huntingdonshire and can give you a realistic figure for today rather than a headline number designed to win the instruction.

What will the MPC decide on 18 June, and does it matter for the patch?

The Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee meets on 18 June 2026. The consensus forecast is a hold at 3.75%. Eight of nine members voted to hold at the April meeting, with one voting for a 25 basis-point rise. The June picture is similar: inflation eased in April but Middle East energy prices have since pushed it back up, and Oxford Economics does not forecast a cut until late 2026 at the earliest.

If the MPC holds, fixed mortgage rates will remain broadly where they are. There has been incremental improvement in lender pricing through May and June, as covered in the June 2026 mortgage rate review. But the cut that would bring substantially more buyers back to the market has not arrived yet. Both buyers and sellers in Huntingdonshire are better served by making decisions based on the market as it stands today than waiting for conditions that may not materialise this calendar year.