Agents down to one sale a month

LONDON estate agents are down to a single property sale a month, threatening a mass closure of branches next year.

Only 5,291 homes were sold in London in August, down by two thirds on 2007 and the lowest total on record, according to the latest official figures.

With an estimated 5,000 estate agents working in the capital, many will have failed to sell a single flat or house during the worst ever month for the industry.

The number of agency branches has exploded in the past decade but it is estimated that up to half could close in 2009. Several major chains have already laid off staff and one, Humberts, which has 80 branches across Britain, has collapsed.

Halifax has shut 50 of its branches nationally and Countrywide, Britain's biggest estate agency owner with well known London chains such as Bairstow Eves and Faron Sutaria has also warned of branch closures and redundancies. Land Registry figures for October show that the average price in London was down 8.6 per cent to £320,774, the same level as in February last year.

But as the figures are compiled from completed transactions filed with the Registry they tend to lag three of four months behind surveys from Halifax and Nationwide, which have reported steeper falls.

The largest year-on-year fall in London was in Waltham Forest at 9.2 per cent. The biggest monthly falls were in Hackney, Lambeth and Lewisham, all with three per cent.