16-01-2008
Spectre of property crash highlighted by Rics
News by Adfero for Simply Business - independent providers of business insurance, business finance, landlord insurance, buy-to-let mortgages & commercial mortgages.
Last month's fall in house prices came at a time when market conditions are edging the UK's housing market to a crash of a size not seen since the early 90s, it has been claimed.
According to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics), the edging towards a property crash is the consequence of interest rate levels and more restrictive criteria for mortgage lending.
Last month, house prices declined at their highest rate for over 15 years.
"The housing market is clearly feeling the pinch from the credit crunch and the round of interest rate hikes in 2007," said Ian Perry, a representative for Rics, in a report by the Guardian.
"[However,] supply would have to loosen considerably before prices experience a significant dip. The coming months will be of great importance to the market."
Rics, an organisation with a history going back to 1868, has confirmed that the results of a survey show the number of surveyors reporting a fall in house prices increased by 49.1 per cent in December 2007, compared with 40.6 per cent the previous month.