UK house prices are expected to experience a short-term drop for the first time since 2012, according to the latest Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Residential Market Survey.

House prices in central London are already falling, according to the survey with 35% more property professionals reporting that prices had fallen rather than risen over the past month.

While prices are continuing to climb modestly across the rest of the UK, this trend looks set to fade, with 10% more respondents predicting that prices would fall rather than rise over the coming three months. This is the first time that a fall in prices has been predicted since 2012. London and East Anglia are expected to be worst hit with 43% (net balance) and 33% (net balance) of respondents saying that prices will fall over the next quarter.

RICS chief economist, Simon Rubinsohn, said: “Sadly, for the many young people looking to enter the property market, it is unlikely that we are seeing the emergence of a more affordable market. Instead, it appears to me that what we are looking at is a short term drop caused by the uncertainty resulting from the forthcoming EU Referendum coupled by a slow-down following the rush to get into the market ahead of the tax change on the purchase of investment properties.”