RICS reports further housing market slump

Enquiries from would-be buyers, agreed sales and property prices are all still falling, with no sign that the housing market will pick up any time soon. For each of the past 18 months, RICS members have reported a fall in the number of people contacting them to buy a property. In the latest poll, the majority recorded another decline, although at a net 28% the reading was the least negative since May. The slump was affecting “virtually all parts of the UK”, RICS said, but demand was weakest in Wales. A net 25% of members surveyed said they had agreed fewer sales in October than they had in the previous month, while a net 63% reported another drop in prices. The Times (£)