House sales fall to lowest level in a decade

The number of homes sold this year is expected to drop by a fifth to the lowest in more than a decade. Zoopla, the property website, expects there will be 1m transactions this year, 21% fewer than last year and the lowest since 2012. The decline will be brought on by a slump in the number of mortgage-backed purchases. While the number of cash buyers is likely to remain similar to last year, Zoopla is forecasting a 28% drop in the number of sales to buyers who require a mortgage. Buy-to-let transactions, which typically make up about 8% of all sales, are also expected to fall this year. Separate data from UK Finance supported Zoopla’s predictions. Purchases by first-time buyers and home movers fell 28% and 30% respectively between April and June compared with the same period last year. The Times (£)The FT (£)The Telegraph (£)The Guardian