House sales are at their lowest level since records began 30 years ago — and in Pembrokeshire it’s the properties in the £300,000 price bracket which seem to be hardest hit.

According to a survey by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (Rics), some estate agents are selling less than one property a week.

Richard Ormond, of Pembroke estate agency, Guy Thomas and Co, insisted the picture was not so gloomy in Pembrokeshire, but admitted the market was unrecognisable from the one that existed less than two years ago.

At that time, prospective buyers viewed two or three properties, then would immediately put in an offer on the one of their choices before a rival buyer came up with a better offer.

“People now view 12 or more properties before putting in an offer. There are more available properties than buyers,” said Mr Ormond, a past branch chairman of Rics.

Some sales are affected more than others. Homes at the top end of the Pembrokeshire property market — those exceeding £500,000 — are still attracting a lot of interest, as are those at the other end of the scale, properties with an asking price of less than £150,000.

Worst hit are those worth upwards of £300,000, according to Mr Ormond.

Surprisingly, in spite of the credit squeeze on the business sector, there has been keen interest in commercial properties, he said.

“We have had several buyers for commercial transactions, for leases on retail premises in particular,” he added.

It is the third recession in the housing market that Mr Ormond has experienced since he became an estate agent, but he still believes the downturn in the early 1990s was worse than the current downturn.

“A lot of the young people in the estate agency business won’t have experienced anything like this, but we have weathered the storm before and we will again,” he said.