UK house sales hit '50 year low'
Property professionals
24th September 2008
The sale of homes in the UK has dropped to the lowest level for almost half a century, new figures have found.
According to newly published data from HM Revenue and Customs, just 62,000 houses were sold last month - the lowest number since records were first collated in 1959.
On average, just 700 mortgages are currently being taken out each day, compared to almost 3,000 a day when the housing market was enjoying its boom period, reports the Daily Telegraph.
Capital Economics property economist Seema Shah commented: "The speed, and the magnitude, of the falling housing market activity has been unprecedented [...] We see no realistic prospect of a rapid end to the housing market correction."
Katie Tucker from mortgage brokers Mortgage Force said that many new homebuyers are waiting for lending terms to improve, while many people are stuck in a property that is losing value."
