House sales are likely to drop to their lowest level since the 1970s as a result of the mortgage drought and property slump. Analysts predict the number of sales going through could fall by 50 per cent, a reduction of around 700,000 homes compared to last year. It comes as banks and building societies impose strict restrictions on the number of loans available and put up interest rates on many deals.
In a slump: House sales will continue to fall, according to experts. Many buyers are also running scared of a property slump. Estate agents say they have seen a 52 per cent drop in the number of properties coming on to their books compared to ten months ago. The warning was sounded by analysts Hometrack, who also revealed that house prices have fallen for the past nine months in a row. It said prices dropped 1 per cent in June and are now down by 3.2 per cent in a year to an average of a pound. It also warned that prices were down in 84 per cent of postcode distrcits in England and Wales last month.
Richard Donnell, of Hometrack, said: "In the short term it seems inevitable that prices will continue to post modest falls until such a time as consumer confidence improves."
SOURCE: Daily Mail |
