Housing sales reach all-time low

The number of homes changing hands has fallen to a record low, despite increasing buyer interest, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). New buyer inquiries increased for the second month in December, as lower prices and interest rate cuts tempted potential buyers. However, growing interest failed to boost house sales, which dropped to 10.1 per surveyor during the last quarter of 2008.

Meanwhile, Communities and Local Government (CLG) released its house price index for November, which showed that homes across the UK lost 1.9 per cent of their value during the month, pushing the average below £200,000 for the first time since November 2006. Annual house price inflation remains negative throughout the UK, with Northern Ireland reporting the biggest year-on-year drop of 16.2 per cent, and Scotland the smallest with 3.9 per cent.