Mon 30 Jun 2008
Property sales fall to lowest level since 1970s
Property sales fell for the ninth month in a row, while the volume of transactions are now at their lowest level for over thirty years, according to the latest Hometrack survey.The property information group reported that average residential property prices fell by 1% in June and down by 2.5% for the first half of this year, with the greatest property price decline recorded in London – down on average 1.3%.
Richard Donnell (pictured), Hometrack director of research, said that the survey reflected low consumer confidence in the market, which is undermining both activity levels and prices.
“New buyer registrations were down 5.7% in June and have now fallen by 52% since the start of the credit crunch, Donnell commented. “The net result is a sizeable drop in transaction volumes which look set to reach levels not seen since the 1970’s.”
The increasing downward pressure on prices is reflected in the fact that the proportion of the asking price being achieved is now down to 91.6%, the lowest since the survey began.
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