The number of house-buyers on estate agents' books in the UK dropped 12% in February according to the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA).

The fall to 243 per agent compared to in January was the lowest ever recorded in its monthly housing market survey.

At the same time the gap between asking prices and what properties sold for continued to widen, at 4.5%.

According to the NAEA, a plethora of external pressures, including the credit crunch and the drop in mortgage approvals was making buyers wary and causing the cogs in the property market to slow.

UK lenders have been reassessing risk and tightening their criteria amid turbulent market conditions that have pushed up the cost of borrowing.

'Invariably, the global credit crunch, especially the US situation, has had a knock on effect, which coupled with consumer inflation, is placing continuing pressure onto the property market,' said NAEA president Stewart Lilly.

'We continue to call on the Bank of England to lower interest rates to help prevent the economy slumping and to help bring back a renewed sense of optimism for the consumers,' he added.

The number of homes on the market last month declined almost 11% to an average of 74 per estate agent, while agents made an average of eight sales during the month- down from 13 a year ago.

Source: RTE