House Sales Slump To 30-Year Low

Wed, 10 Sep 2008

The UK property market slump continued to worsen in August with new figures revealing that the average number of completed house sales per surveyor fell to new record low.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) latest housing market survey, published today, revealed that the average estate agent made just 12.7 sales in the three months to the end of August, the lowest figure since the survey began in 1978, with some estate agents in a number of regions reporting less than one sale per week.

RICS said the collapse in transactions was manily due to the continued inability of many to secure mortgage finance .

According to the survey, 81 per cent more surveyors reported a fall than a rise in house prices, a decrease from 83.1 per cent in July, while demand remained weak in August with 28 per cent more surveyors reporting a fall than a rise in new buyer demands compared to 27 per cent the previous month.

The RICS report added the latest repossession figures still remain ‘well below the levels seen in the early 1990s’.

RICS spokesperson Jeremy Leaf said: “A lack of mortgage liquidity is the key issue which is keeping the housing market from showing any real sign of recovery.”

"While money is scarce, many will continue to be denied the next step on the property ladder . In the absence of much transactional activity many homeowners are being forced to rent their properties while they wait for lending criteria to be loosened and demand to pick up."

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