According to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), house price growth has remained negative for the third month in succession.
Over 20 per cent more Chartered Surveyors reported a fall than a rise in house prices, down from 14.9 in September – the fastest decline in sentiment since July 2005 when 30.9 percent Chartered Surveyors reported a fall than a rise.
Find out how much your house is worth
Interest rate rises, the recent credit crunch and the subsequent tightening of lending conditions have all had an impact upon demand. New buyer enquiries declined for the 11th successive month with 41 percent more Chartered Surveyors reporting a fall than a rise.
Find out how much you can borrow
Weak demand has pushed the stock of unsold property up at the highest pace since May 2003. Consequently, market conditions are the loosest they have been since May 2006.
Surveyor confidence in house prices reached the lowest level since April 2003. Recent market conditions are still having a depressing effect on market sentiment. Surveyors in East Anglia reported the largest price falls followed by the West Midlands, the South West and East Midlands and Wales. London was the only area where surveyors did not report a fall.
Calculate your mortgage repayments here
RICS spokesman, Ian Perry, said: The housing market is seeing the awaited slowdown that many had been expecting, with modest falls reported across most UK regions. A decline in transactions may be in the offing as stalemate returns to the market, although a material fall in prices would require a weaker labour market prompting forced sales
Credit market turmoil has yet to put downward pressure on prices in the capital although prices have now stabilised even here. Significantly, London is the only region where new instructions have risen over the last two months indicating that more leveraged buyers at the margins may already be feeling the credit squeeze.
Find a new mortgage deal
Loading ...