Property sales still slow after 2008 crisis
February 2018
More bad news for property sales came with figures showing home sales have still not recovered to anywhere near the pre-2008 era of the global financial crisis, according to Land Registry data.
A long-term overview of sales since 1995 by online estate agent Housesimple.com shows that only one month since 2008, March last year, figured in the top 100 months and the average number of properties sold since the crisis is less than two thirds (61%) of those before.
The news is especially unwelcome to the domestic window retrofit sector where house moves remain among the prime triggers for homeowners seeking to upgrade.
Between January 1995 and December 2007, there were on average 43,898 completed property transactions recorded each month, compared to 27,023 between January 2008 and present day.
Sam Mitchell, CEO of Housesimpe.com said: “These figures show the lasting impact the global financial crisis has had on the UK property market. Although monthly numbers have recovered, and are more than twice the level they were in 2009, completed transactions still appear extremely low. For example, in September 2017, there were 25,477 completed transactions, more than 18,000 less than average monthly sales pre-2008.
“It is worth bearing in mind that leading up to the financial crisis in 2008, we were seeing a country-wide, and unsustainable buying frenzy. Since the crash, and post-2009 when pretty much every UK town and city saw property transactions hit rock bottom, you could say that many regional property markets have been operating at a level that is more sustainable. London is the major exception, as the reaction to the global crash, was an influx of overseas buyers looking for a safe haven for their money, and crazy price growth. But even the London market has now slowed, and we are seeing more sensible buyer and seller activity. It feels like the UK housing market has entered a new era; one based on strong fundamentals not panic and an obsession with capital growth.”
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