The property boom that home owners have enjoyed during the past year has ended as the latest housing survey shows home buyers retreating over concerns about the economy.
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said “increased uncertainty” about the economic outlook was making home buyers more cautious.
This reduced demand is combined with an increase in the supply of properties following the abolition of Home Information Packs.
It is a reversal of the fortunes of the housing market which saw prices rise sharply in many areas during the past year due to a lack of suitable properties.
RICS said eight per cent more estate agents reported a fall rather than a rise in house prices in July, the lowest reading in more than a year.
It is in sharp contrast to last month when 8 per cent more surveyors reporting rising rather than falling prices.
At the same time the number of new sellers increased with 33 per cent more estate agents seeing a rise rather than a fall in properties to their books, up 28 per cent from June and the highest level since before the beginning of the credit crisis in May 2007.
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