House hunter numbers at record low
The number of people looking to buy a new home fell to a record low in February, as uncertainty over house prices and the ongoing effects of the credit crunch continued to act as a brake on the market, estate agents said today.
The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) said its members had seen the average number of potential buyers on their books fall to 243, compared with 276 the previous month.
This is the lowest figure since the survey began in 2000 and, according to the NAEA, is likely to be the lowest monthly figure since the house price crash of the early 1990s.
The NAEA said the property market was now a "buyer's market", with the gap between sales and asking prices rising to 4.5%, and estate agents each boasting an average of 74 properties for potential buyers to choose from.
Despite that, the number of sales reported by each agent remained the same month-on-month, at an average of eight, but this is down on the 13 per agent recorded last February.
The figures also show a fall in the number of first-time buyers over the month, accounting for 11.7% of sales after creeping up to 14.5% in January.
The NAEA said this development was "disappointing", but it hoped falling prices would attract would-be first-timers back into the market.
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