NORTHERN ROCK SHARE CRISIS HITS LONDON ESTATE AGENT

18th September 2007

Property sales inquiries have been dramatically affected by last week’s Northern Rock share price crash according to London estate agent Hurford Salvi Carr.

Since the Northern Rock share price crashed by 30 per cent last Friday, Hurford Salvi Carr which covers the West End City and Docklands has experienced a drop in internet inquiries as “hits” on the company’s website fell by between 20-25 per cent. Following the crash, Hurford Salvi Carr also experienced its quietest weekend of 2007 across central London offices West End, City and Docklands despite industry predictions that September was set to be a steady month for the property market.

Director of Hurford Salvi Carr David Salvi commented: “We do not believe it is a coincidence that our quietest weekend of the year occurred immediately after the Northern Rock share crisis. Our research of IT search engines has found that other estate agents and property portals have all experienced the same trend with web based property traffic down between 25-40 per cent.”

This is clearly indicative of a short term current lack of home buyers’ confidence in the market, which the bank of England will be carefully monitoring as they assess the Northern Rock crisis on the wider economy.”