Home sellers plummet by 43%

18 November 2008

Rapidly falling house prices have caused the number of people selling their homes to plummet by 43% in a year, according to housing market experts.

Rightmove reported that the number of houses coming onto the market has fallen from 35,000 per week a year ago to around 20,000. Asking prices also fell by 2.9% this month alone, down to £222,979 on average.

However, tight lending criteria on mortgage availability are likely to ease in 2009, Rightmove claims, which could aid a recovery.

A mortgage expert for Think Money said: “Fewer homeowners are looking to sell because they stand to get a lot less for their homes than, say, two years ago. There is also the problem of negative equity, in which the value of many people’s homes no longer covers their mortgage debt.

“If, however, the predictions that lending criteria will soon ease are true, and more mortgages are offered, then we may well see houses begin to regain value in the reasonably near future.”

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