Where Have All The Movers Gone?

Before the recession, there were about 1.6 million home sales a year in the UK, which plummeted to 860,000 in 2009 but has since recovered to around 1.2 million. New research suggests that the shortfall is largely the result of "missing movers" - mortgaged home-owners not moving up the housing ladder. The CML commissioned research which suggests that "missing movers" account for about 320,000 of the annual housing transaction shortfall. There are a number of reasons for the decline, including the fact that there are now fewer mortgaged owners, and they tend to be older and so naturally less likely to move. However, there are still around 140,000 missing moves that can be attributed to a decline in the rates of moving among mortgaged home-owners. Read more on the CML website.