The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) has predicted that the housing market will remain steady in 2008 despite the impact of the credit crunch and slowing price growth.

Peter Bolton King, the organisation''s chief executive, argued that although the housing market is not as robust as it has been in recent years, the "underlying strengths" are still present and will be enough to support the industry next year.

"While the market may have been asked to weather some considerable storms recently, the basic supply and demand dynamic is what will help to keep it steady in the long term," he explained.

Home information packs are to be rolled out to cover all residential properties on December 14th but Mr Bolton King said their impact would not be felt until next year, adding: "I am really hoping that we don''t see instructions negatively affected by the launch of the final phase in the same way that they have been by phases one and two."

Concurring with earlier predictions from Nationwide, the NAEA also forecast that property prices would not grow at all in 2008.