Home buyers stalling

HOUSE hunters are putting off purchases over fears that interest rates are about to rise.

Surveyors report that fewer people are buying properties than at any time since last year’s Brexit vote.

This is the sixth consecutive month of falls, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. It said: ‘The market continues to lack momentum. The shift in interest rate expectations adds to buyer caution.’

But the number of homes on the market was ‘more or less’ stable, the report added.

House prices are expected to rise in all parts of Britain over the next year, except London.

Hansen Lu, a property economist at Capital Economics, said the report points to an ‘extended’ market slowdown.