FIGURES from the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) reveal a slowdown in the housing market.

The findings for July clearly indicate that consumers are now starting to feel the pinch following the recent interest rate rises, which are having an impact on household spending.

The number of registered buyers, the number of properties on estate agents’ books and sales per agent all took a tumble during July, in some cases falling as low as figures usually seen over the quiet Christmas holiday period.

The number of people looking to buy a home decreased by 2.5 per cent in July with agents reporting an average of 314 buyers registered in comparison to the 322 recorded in June.

This is a sharp contrast to July last year when there was an average of 387 house hunters reported on agents’ books, meaning a decrease of 18.9 per cent between figures seen in July, 2006 and those of July, 2007.

This is the lowest number of buyers on agents’ books since December, 2005 when an average of 302 was reported. This continuing drop can be partly attributed to the movement in interest rates coupled with the anticipated holiday period slowdown.

The number of properties for sale also decreased by a significant 33.8 per cent in July. Agents revealed an average of 45 properties for sale during the month compared with 68 in June.

When July’s statistics are compared to past months it is apparent the market has not seen housing figures like this since 2004 when there was a notable slowdown throughout the first half of the year.