House prices fall but sales at record low

LONDON (Reuters) - House prices fell slightly less than expected in the three months to July but the number of completed sales per surveyor fell to their lowest in at least 30 years, a report showed on Tuesday.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors' monthly house price balance rose to a seasonally adjusted -83.9 last month from -86.9 in June, the third consecutive monthly rise but still indicative of sharp falls in house prices.

Analysts had predicted a balance of -90.0.

The number of completed property sales per surveyor in the three months to July slumped 40.4 percent on the year to just 14.4, the weakest since the RICS survey began in 1978.

The ratio of completed sales over the last three months to the stock of unsold property -- an indicator of market slack -- fell to 17.0, the lowest since October 1995, from 18.2.

Even so, RICS said the market may be starting to stabilise though most indicators also point to worsening conditions in the housing market as a decade-long boom quickly turns to bust.

House prices have fallen by more than 10 percent in the last year, data from Britain's biggest mortgage lender showed last week, a bigger fall than seen at any time during the housing market crash of the early 1990s.

Mortgage approvals figures are also pointing to sharp falls in house prices in the months ahead.

The RICS survey showed price expectations were still firmly in negative territory. New buyer inquiries also kept falling, though at a slightly slower rate.