What are the chances of a house sale falling through?

"People are rushing to make offers that they cannot honour"

There has been a significant rise in the rate of house sales falling through, according to Quick Move Now. Between July and September it was just over 25 per cent, up from just under 20 per cent in the previous three months.

However, the figures confirm that the long term trend from 2008 is still a steady decline.

The 25 per cent figure is similar to the same period last year of 27 per cent. The majority of house sale fall throughs in the last three months were caused by mortgage or finance-related issues

"The fall through index is a barometer of misplaced confidence," said Donna Houguez, Market Analyst at Quick Move Now, "made up primarily of those who make an offer on a property and then fail to secure mortgage finance. The trend over the last couple of years, particularly in the latter half of 2012 and the start of 2013, was for people to take more caution, agreeing mortgages in principle before making offers, and that is the main reason why we saw a reduction in the fall through rate.

"The mood in the property market has been buoyant lately and this is reflected in the sharp rise in fall throughs that we’ve seen since March 2013."

Hougeuz added that Help to Buy and concerns of a possible house price bubbl have increased the demand to buy property.

"As people try to get onto the housing ladder or make their next move before prices increase, they are rushing to make offers that they cannot honour. I expect to see this settle as the rush of people trying to buy before the perceived impending price hike happens reduces and as Help to Buy lending filters through the market.”