Property experts in the north west today said that the regional picture was becoming more positive after a slowdown due to Brexit uncertainty.

They were reacting to a survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) which showed that new buyer inquiries in June had declined significantly across the UK, with 36% more chartered surveyors nationally reporting a fall in interest - this is the lowest reading since mid-2008.

The south of England has been the hardest hit, with anecdotal evidence suggesting both the EU result and the tax changes, which took effect at the beginning of April, have had an impact on sentiment.

The survey also showed a further fall in the supply of properties coming available for sale across the UK in June, with the exception of Northern Ireland.

David Hogarth, director of Cumbrian Properties, said: "We have found a slowdown in new instructions due to the uncertainty in the economy, although there are plenty of buyers in the market.

"We have not seen any drop in prices but properties, as always, need to be priced realistically to achieve a sale in what is a challenging market place."

Neil Emmerson, general manager of Tiffen & Co, added: “I feel that the statistics from the Rics are heavily weighted towards the larger population centres.

"Fortunately, despite a slowdown around the referendum, this has now recovered and it appears to be business as usual.”

Adrian Tod, director of Hayward Tod, said: "I heard the comments from the Rics this morning and can report that thankfully our market place has not been affected to any real degree – no dramatic change.

"It is true that inquiry levels are down but by less than 10%, and people who are in the market are still viewing. House sales are steady, ie, not falling.

"New instructions have slowed a little but we have not had any buyers who have pulled out of a purchase as a result of Brexit which is good news as in the first instance we were expecting some fallout based on the pre-Brexit hype.

"It seems to confirm that in our area buyers are confident that the fallout in other areas, particularly London, will not reach Carlisle.

"We have not experienced the house price inflation that other parts of the country have done over the past two to three years which means values and asking prices are fair and realistic. This is of comfort to buyers."

One concern for the sector is that the market has a continuing challenge caused by the lack of stock with 45% more chartered surveyors seeing a fall in new instructions in June from a net balance of -31% in May.