Housing market slows further in November
Wednesday, 15 December 2010 1:59 PM
Activity in Britain's housing market continued to slow last month, with house prices slipping further, according to the latest UK Housing Market Survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).
The group's findings reveal that 44 per cent more of its members reported a fall in prices rather than a rise in November 2010 – a slight improvement on the previous month's 49 per cent.
A lack of house hunters continued to hold back the market, while new buyer enquiries fell for the sixth consecutive month.
Surveyors' predictions for house prices over the next three months do not look any more positive, with 41 per cent more of RICS' members expecting values to continue sliding.
Ian Perry, spokesperson for the group, said: "There was little change in the housing market in November; prices continued to edge lower and sales levels generally remained subdued.
"Despite some better economic data, fears over how future spending cuts will impact on the jobs market are clearly still weighing heavily on potential purchasers' minds."
He concluded by saying that many would-be purchasers were adopting a "wait-and-see" mentality until the new year, while the current lack of mortgage finance continues to deter first-time buyers.
