Although house prices fell for the third month running in April and at their fastest pace in eight years, signs are emerging the market may be bottoming out says the latest report from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

This extraction from an otherwise gloomy report confirms the growing indications from other sources like Rightmove as reported in our other house price story today, 'No long-lasting housing slowdown'.

April's price falls dwarfed those of February and March but surveyors in London reported renewed interest from house buyers after the end of the war with Iraq and confidence was the highest recorded for more than four years.

In the north of England price growth remained strong with 62% of surveyors reporting increases and in the North West, Yorkshire and Humberside prices also increased markedly.

Not all good news

• 31 percent more surveyors reported price falls in the month than rises, up from 23 percent last month and the worst figures since June 1995.
• House prices have fallen for three months in a row with the biggest drop in the south of England.
• Southern regions, which saw the biggest gains during the boom of recent years are now seeing the worst declines.
• The majority of surveyors in the South East, East Anglia and the South West reported that prices were either static or falling.

Panic over?

RICS chief economist Milan Khatri said that there are no panic sellers any more so the downward pressure on the market is alleviating.

Housing spokesman for RICS, Jeremy Leaf, said:

"We expect stable sales conditions to return this summer and have forecast an average 10 per cent rise in house prices in 2003."

“Uncertainty has been the underlying cause behind the depressed figures of the last three months.”