17 Jan
Confidence crisis?
According to the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), confidence in the housing market has slumped to the lowest level since the market crash of the early 1990s.
The RICS survey, which has proved a reliable indicator of the market in recent years, showed that close to 50% of surveys reported falling house prices. At the same time instructions to sell property rose, with RICS suggesting that owners are keen to cash in before the market worsens.
However, analysts continue to report that the situation is not as bad as it has been before previous crises, and that the market was even looser in 2005 without it leading to an annual decline in house prices.