Mortgage debt forces homeowners to sell

According to research by the Times more than one in five homes have been put on the market because their owners cannot afford the mortgage repayments. A survey by the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) for the Times said that at least 5,000 properties a week are being put up for sale by ‘forced downsizers’, or people who are forced to move to smaller properties because of financial difficulties. Many estate agents said that at least 20 per cent of their sellers were having difficulties paying their mortgages. The number of househunters has also fallen, down 211 to 196 on average a month per agent.