Number of homes sold across the UK slumps as London market is at its weakest for eight years
Pricier homes are being sold for less profit, report claims
THE number of homes being sold slumped across much of the country last month.
Pricier ones were also having to be flogged for less, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
In further evidence of a slower market, Rics said it is now taking longer to complete a sale, at 18-and-a-half weeks on average, up from just over 16-and-a-half weeks in February 2017 when the survey first started measuring this.
Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist at Rics, said: "The combination of the increased cost of moving, a lack of fresh stock coming to the market, uncertainly over the political climate and now an interest rate hike appears to be taking its toll on activity in the housing market."
He continued: "Prices do now seem under pressure at the more expensive end of the market."
It said even the property market in London was at its weakest for eight years.
The North East, Wales and Scotland were among the few areas bucking the trend.
