LONDON, Oct 12 Reuters Britain39;s housing market is stuck in the doldrums after a long runup in borrowing costs but the Bank of England39;s pause in interest rate hikes last month has offered the prospect of some relief, a survey showed on Thursday.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors RICS house price balance, which measures the difference between the percentage of surveyors seeing rises and falls in house prices, edged down to 69 after August39;s sharp drop to 68.

Echoing other gauges of British house prices, RICS39; latest figure was the weakest since February 2009 and was below the median forecast of 63 in a Reuters poll of economists.

Britain39;s housing market boomed during the coronavirus pandemic as demand for homes with more space surged, but it has been a victim of the BoE39;s run of 14 interest rate hikes, which began in December 2021.

In the near term, surveyors told RICS they saw further falls in sales and prices, although the expected declines were bit less severe than in recent months.

Expectations for sales volumes in 12 months39; time turned positive for the first since May.

Tarrant Parsons, senior economist at RICS, said subdued buyer activity reflected how the higher cost of mortgage borrowing was likely to remain a challenge for many households.

Although the decision to pause monetary policy tightening a few weeks ago provided a glimmer of relief for the market, interest rates are likely now set to remain on hold for a prolonged…