The latest survey from the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) has revealed a slow October housing market as the number of buyers on books, houses available and sales agreed took a tumble.

The number of house buyers on estate agents’ books was at its lowest for the last four years, with agents reporting an average of 282 buyers registered in comparison to the 326 recorded in September. The second lowest figure recorded was in December 2005 with an average of 302 buyers reported, which indicates that the market is experiencing the type of slowdown often experienced in the festive period.

With a downturn in the number of house buyers, the properties on agents’ books saw a slight reduction as NAEA members reported an average of 65 properties per agent for sale in October, compared to 80 properties in September. However, when compared to the same time last year, the figure is slightly up as 64 properties per agent were recorded in October 2006.

Also, the number of sales agreed per agent was down in October with on average 10 sales reported, compared with 11 in September 2007. This is a significant drop from the same time last year when a figure of 14 sales was reported for October 2006, but reflects the current caution in the housing market.

In addition, the percentage difference between asking price and sales price widened in October to 4.2%, which is an increase on September’s figure of 3.9%, and October 2006’s figure of 3.1%. This widening gap reflects that it is fast becoming a ‘buyers market’ again.