Wednesday July 16, 01:58 PM
House Sales Slump To Record Low
By Sky News
The number of homes changing hands has slumped to a record low as the credit crunch continues to bite. Estate agents sold an average of just 15 properties each during the three months to the end of June, the lowest level since the Royal Institution
of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) began collecting data in 1978.
The institution said the inability of many buyers to secure a mortgage had led to the collapse in transactions as the home loans market continued to shrink.
But the survey offered a glimmer of hope, with the proportion of surveyors reporting price falls improving for the second month running, while there were also signs of some buyers returning to the market.
The latest findings follow a gloomy couple of weeks for the housing market, with both Nationwide and Halifax reporting annual house price falls of more than 6%, the biggest drop since the 1990s house price crash.
RICS spokesman Jeremy Leaf said: "Transaction levels remain incredibly low with many buyers cut out of the process by tight lending conditions.
"(However) with demand so low, would-be-buyers are negotiating from a position of strength.
"Even in a weak market there are always opportunities for investors and buyers to profit and some are starting to circle for bargains."
The RICS figures indicate that the housing market in London is actually showing signs of recovery.
Instructions to sell property have increased for the third consecutive month in the capital, where confidence in price outlook is strongest.
Luke Pendlet of Knight Frank in Wandsworth, south London, said: "We had more sales in June 2008 than in June 2007.
"If I did not read the papers I would be thinking we were on for a good year."
The West Midlands experienced the sharpest deterioration in prices during June and the fastest decline in property sales.
Surveyors in the region said restrictions on first-time buyers had slowed over all sales.
John Ozwell, of Hunters, Solihull, West Midlands, said: "Sales levels are now 60% down on previous years. There is no movement at the bottom end of the market to release the blockage higher up.
"First time buyers have no stamp duty or deposits saved up, therefore they can
not kick start the market."
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