A Plaistow estate agent has described the housing market as “diabolical” after figures revealed a further drop in prices in Newham this quarter.

The comments from Mohammed Ali, manager of estate agent Albany Residential, came after the Nationwide Building Society said the average cost of a home in Newham was �233,362 in the third quarter, down by 2 per cent year-on-year.

Mr Ali said: “The market is diabolical.

“I have been here six years and it’s the worst I’ve known it.

“There are no buyers out there because people can’t get a mortgage.

“We have had one property on the market for a year that would have got snapped up in the old days.

“Sellers are just being squeezed more and more.

“You can get a three-bedroom house in Plaistow now for �160,000.

“It’s unheard of.”

Nationwide figures show house prices in Newham on the slide with this quarter’s drop following a decline of 3 per cent in the second quarter.

Across the capital house prices were up by 0.5 per cent in the third quarter, with the average cost of a home being �295,024.

Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist, said: “Sentiment towards major purchases is depressed, as a result of weak labour market conditions and ongoing pressure on household budgets from above-target inflation.”