House sales down by 32 per cent in 2008 |
23 2008 |
| Property sales in the UK this year are down by a staggering 32 per cent, new research from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has confirmed today (June 23rd). For properties worth over £40,000, a total of 504,000 sales have been recorded since the turn of the year, compared with 743,000 for the equivalent period in 2007. In addition, transactions were down from 115,000 to 98,000 last month (13 per cent), a figure which represents a fall of 37 per cent from May last year. Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), told Reuters: "These numbers clearly highlight the very real pressure on the residential property market. "A drop in property of this magnitude will have an impact on household spending on durable goods as well as on jobs with both estate agent and those working in ancillary areas increasingly under threat." The upshot of the situation is that the cost of fixed-rate mortgages products being offered by the country's biggest lenders is continuing to rise, making it harder than ever for first-time buyers to access the market.  |
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