The number of apartments and houses finding buyers in June fell 12.6%, compared with the year earlier period, according to new figures from the land registry.

Month on month the decline is 3.7%, the land registry said. In total, 9,549 homes changed hands in June.
The organisation said it does not expect the effect of the government’s decision to lower property transfer tax (overdrachtsbelasting) from 6% to 2% to be felt until the final quarter of the year.
Kick start
Ministers hope the tax cut, which saves thousands of euros on the cost of buying an existing home, will stimulate people to start out on the property ladder again.
Estate agents say there has been a 25% increase in viewings since the government agreed to reduce the tax and backdate it to June 15.
‘The negative spiral would appear to have finally been broken,’ said Roeland Kimman of the NVM estate agents association in the AD last week. ‘All our members are telling us the same thing – that more people are viewing and more deals are being agreed.’
New banking restrictions on mortgage lending, which mean people can borrow less, have also impacted on house sales.