A measure of British house prices edged down in October but there were signs that buyers and sellers were sitting on the sidelines at least until next month's election, a survey published showed.

In the latest sign of weakness in the housing market against a backdrop of Brexit uncertainty, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said its house price index slipped to -5 from -3 in September. That was a touch below the median forecast of -4.

New sales instructions fell for a fourth month but less severely than in September when they tumbled at the fastest pace since Britain voted to leave the EU in a referendum in 2016, and there were signs they would remain weak. New buyer enquiries and agreed sales remained negative too.

But near-term sales expectations improved and sales were expected to be broadly stable over the next three months in most of the country, RICS said.