A growing belief that property prices are falling is deterring both sellers and buyers, leaving UK housing-market conditions at their loosest since the mid-1990s, according to a survey published today.
Confidence in the outlook for house prices has plunged in the past month, the monthly report by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) shows.
Ninety-five per cent more surveyors thought prices were falling in their area in April than those reporting a rise, compared with a balance of 79 per cent the month before. A balance of 80 per cent expected prices to fall further.
The finding - the most pessimistic since the survey began in 1978 - may have been accentuated by Rics’s seasonal adjustment process, since April is normally a busy month for estate agents. Unadjusted figures showed a balance of 82 per cent of surveyors thought prices were falling.
Simon Rubinsohn, the institution’s chief economist, said the figures indicated a downturn affecting all areas of the country, whereas the housing crash of the early 1990s had been skewed towards southern regions.
The sales-to-stock ratio, seen as one of the best indicators of market slack, fell from 24.6 per cent in March to …
