Number of housebuyers falls in the UK

The number of people planning to buy a new home in the UK hit a new low in February as consumers waited to see how the property market developed, an estate agents’ trade body said today.

The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) said the number of buyers its members had on their books had fallen to an average of 243 in February, down from 276 in January.

It said this was the lowest figure since it first began its monthly surveyors in 2000, and was likely to be the lowest since the 1990s house price crash.

But it stressed that conditions in the property market were very different to the 1990s, with buyers simply sitting on their hands until the market became clearer.

NAEA chief executive Peter Bolton King said: “These are the lowest figures since we started the survey, but they are unlikely to be as bad as during the last recession.

“Members are saying there is a different feel from 1990/1991. There are still a lot of people who want to move, but they are worried about what will happen to mortgage rates.”

He predicted that the market would pick up again during the second half of the year.

Stewart Lilly, president of the NAEA, added: “We still have a long way to go before we see the difficulties of the late 1980s repeating themselves.”

In response to the proportion of sales made to first-time buyers dropping slightly to 11.7% during the month, he said: “It is disappointing to see that the percentage of first-time buyers took a drop this month, however, we are hopeful that this sector of the market will recover and continue to grow as prices reflect the prevailing market conditions.”

The group also reported a fall in the average number of properties estate agents had on their books during February, with this dropping to 74, down from 83, as potential sellers also delayed making a move until conditions become more favourable.

But the number of sales made per estate agent remained the same at around eight during the month, although this was well down on an average of 13 in February last year.

It is currently taking an average of just over 20 weeks to sell a home due to the more cautious attitude being adopted by buyers, the group said.

The figures came the day after property website Rightmove called on sellers to price their homes realistically to avoid stagnation in the market.

The group said the average asking price was now just 1% below the peak of £241,642 (€309,79) that house prices reached in October last year, despite the very different conditions that now prevail.