British house prices fell at their fastest rate since May 2005 in the three months to November and surveyors' confidence in the outlook hit its lowest level since records began in 1998, a survey shows today.
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors' house price balance for November fell to -40.6 from a downwardly revised -23.4 in October. This was below consensus forecasts and marked a fourth consecutive month of falling prices.
Weak demand meant the stock of unsold property on estate agents' books jumped by nearly 9%. As a result, the ratio of completed sales to the stock of unsold property fell to 33.1%, suggesting the market is looser than at any time since October 2005.
Newly agreed sales declined for the fifth month running and at their fastest pace in the survey's history. New buyer enquiries also continued to fall, although the pace of decline eased slightly.
'It is clear that the housing market continues to feel the strain of depressed market conditions,' said RICS spokesman Jeremy Leaf. 'The recent credit crunch continues to hit confidence in the market,' he added.
Nevertheless, Leaf noted that house prices were unlikely to fall sharply while Britain's job market remained in good shape. Data earlier this week showed the number of people claiming jobless benefit had fallen to its lowest level since 1975.
