Potential buyers have been tempted back to the housing market due to steep interest rate cuts as new figures revealed that the number of househunters rose for the first time in two years last month.

According to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), the rise in potential buyers reflected the recent steep interest rate cuts made by the Bank of England, which slashed the cost of borrowing by 2% during October and November, as well as falling asking prices.

The group's figures also revealed that 14% more surveyors reported a rise in new buyer enquiries during the month than those who reported a fall, the first time interest in the market has been positive since October 2006.

Surveyors are "slightly less optimistic" than they were in October, RICS figures show, as there are expectations among surveyors that sales volumes will pick up. RICS claims that falling house sales are due to the large number of properties on estate agents' books, and the little number of people wanting, or being able to, buy them.

The group added that the decrease in house prices was not due to "distressed selling", and said it was pleased that instructions on selling the properties had remained "broadly stable".

RICS spokesman Jeremy Leaf said: "Many are starting to see the current market as an opportunity to purchase a previously unaffordable property despite the worsening economic picture.

"But, unless people feel relatively confident about their job prospects, they're unlikely to even try to obtain mortgage finance unless of course trading down or seeking to release capital."

However, the housing interest has failed to prevent the number of homes being sold slumping to a new record low, with chartered surveyor estate agents selling an average of only 10.9 properties during the three months to the end of November.

Surveyors in the East Midlands reported sharp price falls, as well as those in the North and South West.

But house prices remained reasonably stable in London and the North West, and prices improved elsewhere, particularly in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

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