“Significant and decisive action” is now needed to help the UK housing market, the leading agents’ organisation has said.
The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) says house sales have fallen 60 per cent in the last year.
Officials from the group said efforts so far from the Government to help the situation have been limited.
RICS also called for action which would make the property market more sustainable and efficient.
The group said:
“While falling prices are not necessarily a bad thing, a collapse in transaction activity has much more severe consequences.
“Spending on consumer durables is set to fall sharply next year while construction output is already plummeting, adversely affecting employment and ancillary services.”
Figures show a tightening on mortgage lending has seen a rise in the unsold stock on the books of RICS members, with the numbers of unsold homes up 33 per cent on last year.
A couple on lower earnings will now need to save over 100 per cent of their combined annual take home pay in order access the market, the group added.
Last week housebuilder Gladedale said developers were now offering buyers some of the best incentives in 15 years as they attempted to shift unsold stock.
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