Threat of Job Cuts holding back the Market

Home owners are reluctant to commit to moving house while the outlook for the economy, and unemployment in particular, remains uncertain, they said.

Ian Perry, a spokesman for RICS, said: “Uncertainty over the prospects for employment, alongside the shortage of mortgage finance particularly for first-time buyers continues to weigh heavily on transactions levels.”

The latest housing survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors found that 26 per cent more estate agents reported a fall rather than a rise in house prices in January, although this is slightly up on the previous month’s figure of 29 per cent.