Estate agents in Bradford are facing their toughest trading conditions for years as house prices fall and buyers struggle to get mortgages due to the credit crunch.

As banks and building societies tighten up on mortgage lending and the Halifax, Britain's largest lender, reports the biggest drop in house prices since 1992, Bradford estate agents are digging in for tougher times ahead.

James Watts, president of the Bradford and District Auctioneers and Estates Agents Association, said the market has suffered a sudden shock rather than a gentle slow down.

He added: "Some agents came into the market when lending was cheap, house prices were rising and there was plenty of activity in the market.

"The difficult climate could see a cull of some agents with less experience who may find it difficult to cope."

The Halifax reported a 2.5 per cent fall in house prices during March, the biggest drop since the early 1990s. In Yorkshire prices fell by half a per cent.

Mr Watts, a director of Robert Watts, which has five offices in the district, said first-time buyers were among the hardest hit by the credit crunch.

He said: "The days of the 100 per cent mortgage have gone with no lenders that I know of now offering such deals.

"The norm has become 90 or 95 per cent which means that first-time buyers are faced with raising a sizeable deposit to buy a home."

He said this was hitting sales of homes priced up to £135,000. The market for properties valued at £200,000 or more has also slowed significantly.

Mr Watts said the Bradford market had seen cases of deals falling through because buyers were unable to raise a mortgage or people taking homes off the market because prices were falling.

He urged vendors to be realistic in pricing their homes to generate sales and also to seek advice from experienced professionals. He also said home-owners should consider renting out their homes until the market recovered.

Mark Kane, branch manager of Hunters property group in Saltaire, said: "The problem is there has been so many hikes in price over the last four or five years that so many properties are still on the market at unrealistic prices. Yet people are coming on to the market and are seeing that price as the price for theirs.

"People are making offers five, ten per cent below the recommended asking price and vendors have got to look at those as good offers.

"The situation is not as disastrous as people are making out. The right property at the right price will still sell."

Paul Lisle, of Bairstow Eves estate agents, Bradford, said: "Vendors are becoming more realistic. They put prices at inflated levels, at too high a price in the first place, and now they realise they were being optimistic.

"On average houses in the Bradford district are priced between £120,000 and £130,000. Now you're looking at £10,000 off that."

Ian Briggs, manager of the Ilkley branch of Dacre, Son & Hartley, admitted market conditions had become "much tougher" since last summer.

He said: "There is a growing realisation that if you are going to sell then you will have to be realistic about the price but if you are buying in the same market that property should be cheaper too."

David Pank, sales and marketing director at Manning Stainton, said: "It's a challenging market but our message is don't panic' on the basis of this report.

"There was a peak for house prices in March 2007 and they will fall further but not at 2.5 per cent a month, no way that's going to happen. The economy is too strong, you can't compare it to what we had in 1992 when offices, factories and shops were closing down."

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