RICS First Quarter 2010 Arts and Antiques Survey

The news is positive from the new Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors quarterly arts and antiques market survey. First quarter 2010 results reveal nine out of 10 sectors showed growth in prices. The only sector with a decline was contemporary art, but that was only down by 1 point. Some of the stronger gaining sectors were silver and jewelry, with furniture showing a modest gain. The survey states the upward pressure on prices is due to a supply shortage. Perhaps the markets have not only started to gain some traction, but are not only starting to stabilize but actually show some signs of growth. If so, that would be a very nice storyline for 2010.

RICS states

The net balance of surveyors reporting a rise rather than a fall in prices continued its upward trend in the first quarter of 2010, with the All Lot price net balance increasing from +17 to +22 (the highest reading since the survey began in Q1 2008). According to surveyors, this can be attributed to a shortage of stock on the market.

Nine out of the ten sub-sectors in the survey showed a positive net balance; only the contemporary art sector recorded a negative reading of –1.

The silver and the jewellery sub sectors were the strongest performing subsectors, with net balances respectively of +57 and +41.This, in part, is due to the continued high price of gold and silver.

In terms of price ranges, the lower end of the market continued to outperform the higher end. Indeed, in the £1-£1,000 and £1,000-£5,000 categories, the All Lot net balances were +24 and +27 respectively. This compares with the £5,000-£50,000 and the £50,000+ categories, which both recorded All Lot net balances of +18.

Looking forward, surveyors expect that demand will comfortably outstrip supply over the next twelve months. The expected demand net balance was +48 compared to the expected supply net balance of +29.

To download the RICS survey, click HERE.