23
Sep
Slowdown reported after government's 'indecision'
Activity in the housing market slowed during the month of August,
figures from the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) have
shown.
The body blamed the government's indecision over the introduction
of a stamp duty holiday for the drop in the number of sales agreed,
the percentage of first-time buyers and the number of houses
available last month.
However, it added that since the stamp duty holiday on properties
up to £175,000 was announced by the government at the start of
September the housing market may now be heading on the right
direction.
President of the NAEA Chris Brown said that "many consumers adopted
a 'wait and see' attitude" last month but "now that a decision has
been made, it is a positive push in the right direction".
He added that the government should continue to offer stamp duty
holidays for first-time buyers.
In his speech at the Labour Party conference yesterday, chancellor
Alistair Darling asserted that his priority is to "stabilise the
banking system" in this current period of economic
uncertainty.