The total number of house sales completing fell once again throughout the month of October, according to the latest housing market survey from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

The average price of a house also fell once more during the month, suggesting that vendors are finally starting to accept a realistic price if they want to sell their house, although the rate of decrease is slowing down according to the report from surveyors.

The main reason given for the continuing slow down is due to the fact that there is still a severe lack of available funding through home owner loans and secured loans, as banks and building societies continue to withdraw their products from the market and tighten their lending criteria for anyone applying for a new loan.

However, the report from RICS also states that it expects to see an increase in activity over the next three months, as new enquiries from potential buyers rose to the highest level seen in the past sixteen months, coupled with the fact that vendors are now asking more realistic prices and that we should see an improvement in the mortgage and secured loan markets, following the Government’s intervention into home owner loan providers and the recent cuts in interest rates.

All these factors should hopefully restore some level of confidence in the housing and secured loan markets and provide a welcome boost for those involved in them.

A spokesperson for RICS said “Last weeks interest rate cut should certainly help to support the market now that lenders have agreed to pass on the reduction to borrowers. Even so the general lack of mortgage loan finance remains a major blockage in the housing market for a large majority of would be buyers.

Fortunately, many vendors have finally started to accept current market conditions and are dropping their asking prices to achieve a sale. Sales should increase in the coming months as more and more sellers understand that greater realism is the only way to make the long desired move.”