Home sales fall to 30-year low, Rics reports

15 2008
The number of properties being sold across the UK has fallen to its lowest level for three decades, new figures from the Royal Institute for Chartered Surveyors (Rics) show.

Coming as lenders remove some of the final mortgage products aimed at first-time buyers from the UK market, the new figures show that estate agents sold an average of just 15 properties each over the three months to the end of June.

This represents a 40 per cent decline on the rate of sales seen in the same quarter of 2007 and the lowest rate since Rics started compiling its figures in 1978.

One member of the professional body, Richard Powell, told the Telegraph: "June was the worst month so far for buyer activity and the situation is worsened by a high cancellation rate due to difficulties with finance availability and a lack of buyer confidence.

"Sellers are reluctant to reduce prices and are under no real pressure to sell. Buyers are sitting and waiting. The net result is very few transactions."

Earlier this week the two of the largest financial institutions in the United States, Freddie Mae and Fannie Mac, reported difficulties, with many observers warning that this could have implications on the UK housing market, pushing more people into the rental sector. ADNFCR-1219-ID-18685088-ADNFCR

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