More than one in three house sales across England and Wales fell through before completion in the first quarter of 2017, according to figures released by Quick Move Now, the UK’s largest independent home buyer.
Its figures suggest that 34% of all house sales fell through before completion in Q1 2017, a drop from 31% which was recorded in the previous quarter.
Quick Move Now disclosed the reasons behind Q1 house sale fall-throughs as follows:
• House sale not processing forward – 36%
• Survey Issues – buyer pulled out – 14%
• Buyer tried to renegotiate on offer – 14%
• Lender refused credit – 9%
• Buyer changed mind – 18%
• Chain break – 9%
The reasons behind recorded house sale fall throughs have shifted from the previous quarter, where 43% of all sales fell through due to both buyers and sellers renegotiating their offer for a better deal; whereas the first quarter of 2017 saw 36% of all house sale fall through due to the buyer stalling the sale process.
Danny Luke, Quick Move Now’s managing director, said: “2016 was a tricky year for the property market. A great deal of uncertainty plagued both the political and economic arenas, which undoubtedly had an impact on property market confidence.
“We saw property sales fall significantly in the second half of 2016 compared to the period before the EU referendum. This is no surprise as buying a new home is a big decision to make and people tend to hold off making these important decisions, especially in times of uncertainty.
“As we move into 2017, we’ve already seen a decrease in the number of property sales that didn’t make it to completion. This is a hopeful sign that confidence within the UK property market is starting to rise. However, the biggest reason why house sales didn’t complete in Q1 were due to buyers stalling on the sale process, so there definitely still seems to be an element of caution among property buyers.”