UK housing market freezes up as Britain suffers winter weather

Snow and freezing temperatures almost brought the property market to a halt last month, according to estate agents.

The latest survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors found a fifth more estate agents reported a fall rather than a rise in the number of new buyers during January.

It is in sharp contrast to the 18 per cent more estate agents who reported a rise rather than a fall in house hunters during the previous month.

But despite the slowdown in activity, house prices continued to rise, with 32pc more surveyors reporting price increases in January than those who saw falls, up from 30pc more in December.

Surveyors remain confident that the dip in activity is temporary, with the proportion who expect prices to continue rising doubling during the month from a balance of 12pc to 24pc.

Estate agents said the cold weather at the beginning of the year badly affected business.

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