Property sales are at their lowest level since 1978, according to the latest figures from the Royal Society of Chartered Surveyors.

Estate agents all over the UK reported property sales down for November – with most selling only 10 properties in the three-month period leading up to the survey – that works out at less than one a week..

Most estate agents reported having large numbers of houses for sale on their books – and the good news that 14% more prospective buyers signing up this quarter than last.

Sales were double the rate at the start of 2008, before the credit crunch started to drive prices down due to buyers facing difficulties in raising mortgages.

“Many are starting to see the current market as an opportunity to purchase a previously unaffordable property despite the worsening economic picture,” said RICS spokesman Jeremy Leaf.

“Unless people feel relatively confident about their job prospects, they’re unlikely to even try to obtain mortgage finance unless of course trading down or seeking to release capital.”

“Sellers still have to accept the inevitable fact that house prices are falling and re-price their property to suit current market conditions.”

“The rise in interest reflects both the drop in asking prices and recent cuts in interest rates.”

The lowest level of sales in the past three months was in London, with just seven homes per estate agent, followed by Wales and East Anglia.

With sales still slumping there has been a continued downward pressure on prices.

RICS found that 76.5% more of its members had seen prices fall locally than rise, only slightly better than the previous months’ negative balance of 81%.

Both the Nationwide and Halifax, two of the UK’s largest mortgage lenders have also recently reported falling house prices in November. The Nationwide index showed prices down at 0.4% and the Halifax down at 2.6%. The variance is due to different sampling methods.

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Tags: Credit Crunch, Halifax, Jeremy Leaf, Nationwide, Property Markets, Property Prices, RICS

As expected, the tightening of non essential spending in the west has led to the Chinese government to declare that its growth rate has fallen to below 10% for the first time in several years….all the way down to 9.9%. Some predict it could fall further to (wait for it) 8% next year!

This isn’t a surprise and it’s not a huge shock. China has very different fundamental to Western economies. For a start, it has a lot of savings. This will provide the economy a nice buffer against any downturn. Second, it doesn’t need to raise capital. The banks in China never got involved in many of the high risk games of their western counterparts. Even though the Chinese people are going through a stock market bust that has seen over 65% wiped off the value of Chinese shares and a property bust in once popular property markets like Shanghai and Beijing, the savings are still there…roughly $1.3tr in USD alone.

Secondly, the needle of the internal Chinese consumption engine is still in the red…their growth rate, though slower, is still electrifying. That being said, steel and other heavy industries are showing weakness form declining consumer demand at home and textiles and toys are showing weakness from declining demand abroad, particularly in the west. Recently, China closed 10,000 factories in a single city, but their government driven infrastructure projects continue as before…at a blistering pace.

It wouldn’t surprise me one bit to see China held up as a shining example to the West after the crunch has run its course. The hard working, saving, family orientated (and obedient…!) Chinese will be a model for us all. It’s only a matter of time before a politician tells us to “take a leaf out of Chinas book”.

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Tags: China, Economic Growth, Economy, Global Economy, Property Markets