NORTH-EAST Fife’s normally buoyant housing market is feeling the bite of the credit crunch, with a downturn in the number of houses being sold.

Although there are pockets of strength, estate agents reported fewer sales.

They said difficulty in obtaining mortgages and a lack of confidence had combined to create a buyers’ market.

David Harley, a partner in estate agency Rollo Davidson McFarlane, said there were now dramatically fewer buyers around and that the market had stagnated.

“North-east Fife has always had a buoyant market with demand outstripping supply.

“It’s been a sellers’ market for the last 10-plus years but that situation has very much reversed,” he said.

“It is a buyers’ market now. We are seeing transaction numbers anything between 33 and 50 per cent down year on year.

“That said, houses are still selling and selling above value if they are in the right place.”

The credit crunch had definitely impacted, he said.

“We anticipated things were going to be more difficult,” he continued.

“The first quarter of the year things were much the same as usual, but from the second quarter it has started to show its teeth.

“It has happened relatively quickly.”

But, optimistically, he said, “It is possible things could turn round equally quickly.”

Property sales manager at Pagan Osborne, Linda Black, agreed that transaction numbers were down, but bucking the trend was the firm’s Anstruther office as the holiday home market had remained unscathed.

She said properties were taking longer to sell, but that prices were holding up.

“There are some areas where there is good news,” she said.

While there were more fixed prices around, in St Andrews she reported properties reaching 24% over the asking price.

And she said, “The holiday home market is still alive and kicking in the East Neuk.”

Prices there had risen 17% year on year, she said.

First-time buyers, however, were finding it difficult to get a foothold on the property ladder.

She said, “The amount of deposit and cash they have to accrue to get a foot in the market is about £24,000.

“There aren’t many young people who have the family support to do that.”

North-east Fife wasn’t suffering as much as other areas, she said, but the market had definitely shifted.

“It’s a different way of working in this market,” she said. “There are fewer buyers around and we are having to go that extra mile.”