Property prices in the UK are unlikely to drop soon, but the rate of growth is likely to slow as the market levels out, according to the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA).

Investment in property has proven to be a wise choice, having outperformed all markets including gold and the stock market in the last fifty years, the NAEA has asserted.

However, those talking to estate agents about investing in new homes may welcome news that prices are not likely to continue increasing affordability worries.

Peter Bolton King, chief executive of the NAEA, remarks: "At the moment the market is still proving quite resilient even with the latest interest rate rises, although we are definitely seeing signs of things slowing up and perhaps prices now beginning to level out in some parts of the country."

Recently, the NAEA warned that this summer's flooding had caused a shortage of rental properties in some areas, while moneysupermarket claimed that applications for home insurance in affected parts of Scotland had increased by 300 per cent.