A discouraging picture of the market was painted by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors this morning, which said that agreed sales, new buyer enquiries and new instructions have all declined.

Reporting on June, the RICS said that average stock on its member estate agents’ books hit a new low.

It said that new instructions had fallen for the 16th month in a row, while newly agreed sales were down for the fourth consecutive month.

The June survey included additional questions to gather further insight regarding the generally flat trend in activity.

At a national level, 44% of contributors identified domestic political uncertainty as the biggest factor explaining the current state of the market.

This compares to 27% who highlighted Brexit as the most important factor influencing the picture. However in London, the political climate, Brexit and the changes in Stamp Duty were all cited equally as contributing to the lethargy.

Surveyors in different parts of the UK highlighted localised markets.

In London, the south-east and East Anglia, surveyors reported declines in house price inflation, while agents in Wales, the west midlands and north-west reported continuing rises.

Simon Rubinsohn, RICS chief economist, said: “The latest results demonstrate the danger, however tempting, of talking about a single housing market across the country.

“RICS indicators particularly regarding the price trend are pointing towards an increasingly divergent picture.

“High-end prime properties may be seeing prices slipping back but, for good or ill, prices are continuing to move higher in many other segments of the market.

“Indeed, the disaggregated data suggests that this will continue to be the case over the coming months.

“Perhaps not surprisingly in the current environment, the term ‘uncertainty’ is featuring more heavily in the feedback we are receiving from professionals working in the sector.

“This seems to be exerting itself on transaction levels which are flatlining and may continue to do so for a while, particularly given the ongoing challenge presented by the low level of stock on the market.”

There were 299 responses to the June survey.