House prices are expected to see a short-term fall over the next few months for the first time in nearly four years, according to a poll of surveyors.
The report from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) pointed to uncertainty around the EU referendum and a recent hike in stamp duty tax for landlords as weighing on the market.
Shares in house builders such as Taylor Wimpey, Berkeley, Persimmon and Bellway fell in the wake of the survey - the latter despite an update in which it said it had seen a "positive trading environment" with no noticeable effect from this month's poll.
According to the RICS poll, for the first time since November 2012 a majority of members questioned expected that prices over the next three months would fall.
However, most still saw an increase over a 12-month horizon.
It follows a warning by Chancellor George Osborne last month that house prices could be dragged lower by a Leave vote.
RICS chief economist Simon Rubinsohn said that for now the group's members were only forecasting a temporary dip in prices, which have surged by as much as a third in the past five years.
He added: "Sadly, for the many young people looking to enter the property market, it is unlikely that we are seeing the emergence of a more affordable market.
"Instead, it appears to me that what we are looking at is a short term drop caused by the uncertainty resulting from the forthcoming EU referendum coupled by a slow-down following the rush to get into the market ahead of the tax change on the purchase of investment properties.
"There is not at this point a sense that a fundamental shift is taking place in the market."
RICS said its headline house price balance for changes over the previous three months fell to its lowest since February 2015 at +19 for May, down from +39 in April and below forecasts.
Sales dropped at the fastest rate since August 2008, and new buyer inquiries declined at the sharpest pace since June 2008.
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