Record number of homes for sale

Estate agents have a record number of properties on their books, with 15 homes on the market for every buyer, figures showed today.

A report showed agents have an average of 75 homes for sale, as house price falls and problems securing mortgages have caused buyers to adopt a "wait and see" approach.

There are now 15 homes on the market for every successful buyer, compared to seven to every buyer a year ago, according to property website Rightmove.

Shropshire estate agent Nick Tart said there was no doubt that housing stocks were rising.

"Without question, there are more homes on the market this year compared to 2007," he said.

"However, the figures can be misleading as Home Improvement Packs were brought in last year and many people were waiting before putting their house on the market," added Mr Tart.

"But properties are moving more slowly, partly because of more coming onto the market and the market itself is slower."

The figures showed difficult market conditions had finally caused sellers to be more realistic about how much their home was worth, with asking prices in England and Wales falling by 1.2 per cent during the last five weeks.

The move shaves about £3,000 off asking prices to leave properties put on the market for an average of £239,564, reducing annual house price growth to just 0.1 per cent.

Mr Tart said some prospective buyers were tipping their toe in the water and making silly offers, but his advice to first-time buyers would be to wait.

"Prices are falling and they haven't stopped yet. If you are already in the market, then the figures are relative, however for a buyer outside the market it could be better to wait and see.

"We will probably see prices falling for another nine months before hitting bottom."

Miles Shipside, commercial director of Rightmove, said: "In spite of the lowest housing transactions for 30 years, new sellers had been coming to the market asking for record prices.

"It was a mad state of affairs that defied the laws of economics. Thankfully new sellers are now taking some pro-active steps to price more realistically from the outset to attract increasingly hard-pressed buyers."

By Amy Bould