House sales surge in Britain even as household finances worsen       

A desire to leave London and the coronavirus lockdown leads to a record number of homes sold in Britain this summer 

A record number of homes were sold in Britain between mid-July and early August, as pent-up demand from the coronavirus lockdown and a desire to leave London bucked the usual summer slowdown, even as the financial health of most households deteriorated, surveys showed.  

Property website Rightmove, which says it is used by 90% of British estate agents, reported the highest number of home sales agreed since it began tracking the data more than 10 years ago, with transactions more than 20% higher than the previous record.