Interest rates took their toll on house prices in Britain last month as they continued to fall.
Lower prices were reported in the three months up to November by about 48 per cent more chartered surveyors.
According to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), it represents the biggest number reporting falls in 12 years.
In November there were an average of 67 properties per surveyor on estate agents books - rising for the sixth consecutive month.
But confidence in a future sales recovery is undented, with surveyors at their most optimistic in almost a year.
New purchase enquiries are still low, but after six months of falling, they are beginning to stabilise. The most noticeable price drops are in the south and the Midlands, the RICS said.