Housing bust humor in the U.K.

An update on the U.K. housing market from the Telegraph with a little levity:

Estate agents are selling just one property a week, as figures show the worse drop in sales for 30 years.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said the number of properties sold had dropped to its lowest level since records began in 1978.

It blamed the lack of affordable mortgages available to home owners for the collapse in transactions.

While mortgage rates on some lenders' most popular deals have been cut in recent days, lending criteria remains tight with the best rates only available to those with a significant deposit.

At the beginning of the year, RICS said estate agents were selling 23.9 properties every three months compared with 32 properties per three months at the beginning of 2004. Today, the figure has dropped to 14.4 over the last three months or 1.1 properties a week.

They seem to be closing the housing bust gap with the U.S. rather quickly.