Fall in sales gives buyers more choice Published: 24/06/2008

Official figures show that 40 per cent fewer properties were sold in May than 12 months ago.

According to HM Revenues and Customs, around 100,000 homes and offices changed hands last month, which is notably fewer than during the corresponding month last year.

The statistics suggest that buyers currently have an extraordinarily wide range of property to choose from, as most homes for sale are failing to shift at current asking prices.

As a result, asking prices in May were 1.2 per cent less, with London experiencing its worst monthly slump for three years.

Prices in the capital were down 1.4 per cent in May, or the equivalent of around £4,500, eclipsing the 0.7 per cent slip seen in early 2005.

"These numbers clearly highlight the very real pressures on the residential property market," commented Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

He predicted that more houses for sale would continue to accumulate on the market as the year progressed, forcing sellers to accept smaller sums for their properties.

Whereas more than one million homes were bought and sold in 2007, the Council of Mortgages Lenders expects the total to be 770,000 this year.

Search now for properties for sale  © Copyright.