HOUSE prices across Yorkshire have seen some of the biggest falls as the downturn in the national market goes on.

Figures released by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors show the drop in prices is at its highest since November 1992.

The figures reveal that 49pc of surveyors reported a decline in house prices in May across Yorkshire and Humberside.

Jeremy Leaf, of RICS, said: "The froth has come off the market.

"Choosy buyers can now afford to bide their time as available property has risen by a quarter in the past year.

"Sellers must adapt their behaviour to account for the fact that boom conditions of recent years have come to an end."

New inquiries have slipped after being stable for some months and completed sales in May were down 29pc from 2004.

But surveyors anticipate an improvement in sales activity with interest rates possibly set to fall.

Edward Waterson, of York property consultants Carter Jonas, said: "It's a very mixed picture, with fierce competition for some houses and very slow on others."

Across the country only Scotland is seeing house price increases with the Midlands, Yorkshire and Humberside having the most notable falls. Prices in London are also starting to fall at a much faster rate.

Is a family home a thing

of the past?

A NEW survey has shown that families across the region think an average home is out of their price range.

More than half those questioned in the North-East and North Yorkshire said they felt a three-bedroom house in their area was out of reach.

One in ten parents also felt the problem was so bad that if their family grew, they would be forced to move to a cheaper area to buy a bigger home.

Despite recent figures which showed house prices continued to fall last month - with the North-East having the UK's worst slump in house price inflation during April - the survey by homeless charity Shelter and the Royal Institute of British Architects revealed that 53pc of people in the North-East and 50pc in Yorkshire still felt prices were unaffordable.

Andrew Potter, of the J W Wood estate agency in Darlington, said: "Many people do find it difficult to meet the price of property, but at the same time, a lot of people are buying houses.

"That makes it hard to argue that the 'average home' is out of reach."

However, Adam Sampson, director of Shelter, said the traditional idea of a family home was in danger of becoming a thing of the past.