The UK’s housing market was hit by the most widespread price falls since 2009 in January as consecutive interest rate hikes over the past year adversely affected would-be buyers, according to a survey published by RICS this morning.

The study reveals  that the house price balance, which measures the gap between the percentage of surveyors seeing rises and falls in house prices, fell to -47, the lowest since April 2009, from -42 in December.

The RICS report also shows that surveyors were less pessimistic about the outlook than in December with a measure of expected sales over the next 12 months improving to -20 from -42.

Other housing market measures have also revealed a loss of momentum in the housing market in recent months.

Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist at RICS, said the overall mood of the market as measured by surveyors remained subdued.

He commented: “However, it is questionable how much downside to pricing there is likely to be given that recent macro forecasts from the Bank of England and others are now envisaging a less harsh economic environment this year.”

RICS said the rental market continued to show strong interest from tenants with limited availability of stock.