Top of the market

The Centre for Economics and Business Research said that house prices were likely to fall next year, and that London would lead the way with a drop of 2.6 per cent. Average prices were likely to fall by 0.8 per cent next year and buyer sentiment is starting to tail off.

It seems that buyers are finally deciding that some properties are simply unaffordable, and they would rather walk away.

There are a number of factors involved; it is not just the staggering 17 per cent rise in property prices in London that have put people off. Foreign investors are starting to turn their backs; sterling has become too strong and the UK is seen as a bit unstable - investors are still reeling from the Scottish referendum and the prospect of an EU exit is also causing anxiety.

In the short term the mortgage market review has been unsettling buyers

In the short term the mortgage market review has been unsettling buyers, while the prospect of a mansion tax is stalking the market.

All this is good news for those hoping to get onto the property ladder, but first-time buyers should not be rejoicing just yet.

It is important to remember that the London property market has gone stratospheric over the last few months, fuelled in part by the Help to Buy Scheme. This has been criticised for stoking a property boom, so it is perhaps with some relief that the market might be settling down.

The CEBR said in its report that the UK is unlikely to see a property crash, more “adjusting after getting ahead of itself at the start of 2014”.

Perhaps this will do what the mansion tax was intended before it even comes into effect - if indeed it happens: enabling more British people to own the property that they live in.