Housing market weakens as buyer demand and sales slip back, say surveyors

Surveyors expected house sales to remain largely stagnant over the next three months (Anthony Devlin/PA) - (PA Archive)

Home buyer inquiries and house sales slipped back further in August, with new instructions to sell falling for the first time in more than a year, according to surveyors.

Agreed sales slipped sharply, with a net balance of 24% of property professionals seeing transactions fall, up from a balance of 17% the previous month, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) said.