UK coronavirus lockdown: Property sales plunge 70 per cent
Property sale agreements have plummeted since the UK coronavirus lockdown restrictions were introduced, according to the latest research.
The number of agreed sales has plunged 70 per cent since the government measures, which urged people not to move house, were enforced on 23 March.
Sellers have not pulled their properties off the market, but the closure of estate agent offices and dip in viewings has led to a drop off in agreed sales over the last two weeks.
There are also fewer new properties coming onto the market due to the general uncertainty amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Zoopla’s research and insight director Richard Donnell told the BBC: “There has been no mass withdrawal of homes from the market as agents and consumers adopt a wait-and-see approach.
“The closure of estate agency branches and general uncertainty has resulted in far fewer sales agreed in the last two weeks, with less new supply coming to the market.”
Separate research published this morning showed that UK house prices jumped year on year in March, but experts predicted that the coronavirus lockdown will have a negative impact on the market.
Halifax’s House Price Index showed that property values increased three per cent in March compared to the same month in 2019, however measures to combat the spread of the virus have brought the market to a “standstill”.