The listings under contract chart has suddenly shot a warning cannon across our bows.

This is a much more negative view than the one we published just a couple of weeks ago, which we described as worrying at the time. A drop below 7,500 at a time when the autumn buying season should be fully under way is not a good sign. Only 2007 and 2008 gave us lower readings than this.

It suggests that another leg down in demand has followed the recent rise in mortgage interest rates. Not exactly surprising, but the drop is even larger than we anticipated.

Market insights provided by the Cromford Report.