Rising mortgage costs are making buyers cautious, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said. But rents are expected to continue rising, as property demand outstrips supply.

Expert says “we are now seeing the end of constant increases”.

A number of mortgage lenders are lowering their rates, responding to a calming of the financial markets following the turmoil created by Liz Truss’s ill-fated mini-budget.

Second home owners could lose out on tax breaks worth thousands after the Government’s adviser called for a crackdown on holiday lets.

Increasing numbers of transactions have fallen-through and asking price cuts are increasing but the market is still on track for almost 1.3m sales this year, Zoopla claims.

The nation’s rental market could be in for a boom as historic housing market trends show that a decline in property sales also leads to a boost in the private rental market stock.

The latest data from Nationwide has revealed that house prices took a tumble in October 2022, falling 0.9% month-on-month in the wake of former prime minister Liz Truss' mini budget. This is the first such fall since July 2021 and the largest since June 2020, the figures show. The average house price has also fallen from a UK average of £272,259 in September 2022 to £268,282 in October 2022.

This is the largest single increase in the base rate for 33 years, and is designed to curb the sky-high CPI inflation rate, which stood at 8.8% as of September.