House prices in the North East are set to decline as banks warn of a 2008-like property market crash.

Recent data from the UK Residential market survey by RICS saw over 50% of respondents from the North East reporting a decline in prices.

The North East also reported the lowest number of new buyer enquiries, coming in at under 5%.

A contributor to the survey, Keith Pattinson of Keith Pattinson Ltd in Newcastle Upon Tyne said: “Only way is down, but people will benefit, as differential in moving up will reduce.”

He added: “Forced sellers and vacant properties will sell, but the drop is shown by the large volume of reduced on portals, with fewer properties/shortage of stock.”

In December of 2022, the average house price in the North East was £163,731, with prices falling by 0.5% in that same month.

However, the interim CEO of CPRE (The Countryside charity) has called the reported slump in housing prices “scaremongering” and claims the UK needs more homes.

He said: “We strongly disagree with this blatant fear-mongering. Local authorities will still be expected to provide more land for housebuilding. But it’s welcome that in future they’ll be put under less pressure to allow large scale building on our precious countryside than is currently the case.”

He added: “We need to put people before profits, which means building vastly more social homes and bringing forward developments that include a mix of tenures to better meet the needs of local people.”

Nationally, survey respondents to the RICS predicted newly agreed sales to decline by 40%, with price expectations in the next year to drop by 60%.