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Assetz® Property News Service
UK property market 'continues slump'
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The number of house sales fell by 11,000 last year and continued a three-year slump, according to UK property transaction figures.
House sales dropped to one of the lowest totals recorded, the statistics released by HM Revenue and Customs show, with just 869,000 homes sold last year compared to 880,000 in 2010.
The slowdown in the housing market in recent years was most evident in 2009, when only 848,000 houses were sold. This is about half the number of transactions recorded in a year before the financial crisis began.
The Bank of England recently said it believes lenders will tighten their credit criteria in 2012 and so it will be harder for borrowers to get a mortgage, heightening concerns sales could hit another record low this year.
The first-time buyer sector of the industry has made a slight recovery in recent months after dropping to a three-year low last autumn. However, the recovery may prove temporary with the stamp duty holiday for first-time buyers closing in spring.
University of Reading professor of economics Geoff Meen told the BBC: "If you have very poor levels of credit availability for first-time buyers and people moving home, you are going to get low levels of sales taking place."
Copyright Press Association 2012
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