Crumbling consumer confidence and fears of further job losses in the wake of a string of high profile cuts, has brought the recent housing boom to an end.

Prices slumped 0.6% in November according to the latest survey from the Halifax, the UK's largest mortgage provider.

It is a big turnaround from October when prices grew 1.3%.

Gloomy picture

The Halifax survey provides a gloomy picture of the current state of the housing market and its bears out a recent from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors which said that prices had fallen for the first time in three years.

A similar report, published by the Nationwide Building Society, on Tuesday, also showed that the housing market is slowing down.

Nevertheless, the Halifax believes the housing market is not heading for a crash.

Uncertain future

A spokesman for the Halifax said: "It is our view that house prices are likely to rise less steeply in 1999 than this year, as the expected sharp fall in economic growth is reflected in weaker demand for housing.

"Nonetheless, the housing market downturn should prove modest with the recent cuts in mortgage rates helping to mitigate the adverse impact of the deteriorating economic background as housing remains highly affordable in a historical context."

On an annual basis property prices have risen 4.9% - a marked slowdown on the 6.7% annual inflation reported in October.