Hundreds of estate agents go month without sale

LONDON estate agents are selling fewer than one property a month on average and face a still bleaker market next year.

Mass closure of branches look likely as official figures from the Land Registry today showed only 4,651 homes were sold in London in September, down two thirds on last year.

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

The average price in London was down 10.2 per cent on last year to £317,101, according to the registry.

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

Experts predict prices could drop by another 15 per cent next year and a further five per cent in 2010.

Waltham Forest recorded the largest year-on-year fall, at 12.7 per cent, closely followed by Lambeth at 12.2 per cent.

The biggest monthly fall was in Richmond upon Thames, at 3.8 per cent, followed by Brent at 3.3 per cent and Ealing at 3.2 per cent.

Harrow has weathered the downturn best, seeing a 3.2 per cent annual fall.

Overall the London market is falling more slowly than the country as a whole.

Every other region apart from the North-West has seen prices plummet more than 10.2 per cent in the past year.