Money News
12th August 2008
Property sales fall to 30-year low
Property transactions are currently at their lowest level for 30 years, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics).
Rics claims that estate agents are currently sold around 14.4 properties per month over the last three months - equating to around 1.1 per week.
This compares with 32 properties per month being sold at the beginning of 2004.
Ian Perry, a spokesman at the group, blamed the downturn on the continued imposition of tight lending conditions in the property market resulting from the credit crunch.
He said: "The lack of mortgage finance has brought the housing market to a virtual standstill with first-time buyers rapidly becoming an endangered species."
The latest data from Rics did however offer a crumb of comfort for consumers, with the news that the number of reporters reporting a decline in prices was down for the month.
Some 83.9 per cent more surveyors reported a decrease than a rise in house prices in July, compared with 86.9 per cent in June.
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