Monday 15th October 2007
Property prices are falling at the fastest rate for two years, figures from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) show.
In its UK Housing Market survey for September, Rics found that 14.6 per cent more of its members reported a fall in house prices than a rise.
The balance previously stood at 3.3 per cent in August - and is now the greatest proportion of Rics members since September 2005.
Nearly one in five (19.4 per cent) more respondents reported a fall than a rise in that months survey.
And the supply of new properties to the market could be set to decline even faster, based on the balance of surveyors who witnessed a fall in houses put up for sale last month.
With vendors "under no pressure to sell", the surplus who saw a decrease in new sales instructions stood at 21 per cent.
Spokesperson for the organisation Jeremy Leaf comments that "some would-be buyers are turning to the rental market".
"Others - conscious that the next move in interest rates is now likely to be down rather than up and market meltdown is highly improbable - are seizing the opportunity to negotiate with more flexible vendors," he adds.
Meanwhile, Rics claims that the introduction of home information packs (Hips) for three-bedroom properties continues to constrain the market further.
Nearly three-quarters (73 per cent) of members saw a fall in three-bed houses coming on to the market after Hips became mandatory for such properties on September 10th.
And the worst-hit regions exceeded the four-fifths mark, reaching a decline of 82 per cent in the West Midlands and 87 per cent in East Anglia.
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