House sales 'continuing to fall'

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Property sales fell even further in December, according to the latest survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics).

The average number of sales per estate agency fell during the three months to December to 10.1, down from the 10.6 sales level reported a month ago.

Rics said this was the lowest level since its survey started in 1978.

Separately, the government's own house price survey said prices in the UK had fallen by 8.6% in the year to November.

It showed that the fall in prices accelerated during the autumn, taking the price of the average UK home down to £199,732.

The survey is published by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), and is based on a sample of 50,000 completed house purchases each month.

Source:

News.bbc.co.uk