Over at property search engine Primemove they've been tracking the fortunes of 18,500 homes on the market since August 2007, and the results are fairly shocking. Just 20% have been sold (or been withdrawn from the market for other reasons), suggesting that "80% of people who put their property on the market since the Northern Rock crisis have yet to find a buyer". Primemove chief, Henry Pryor, is in characteristically outspoken form:

"Whilst we have been urging caution for the past 12 months, lenders have been arguing that things were not too bad and their indexes have been suggesting that house prices have continued to slightly rise - even into the new year. Frankly "liar, liar, pants on fire". I don't believe a word of it and it does a huge disservice to sellers and to the rest of the market when those responsible for funding house purchases not only deny that the scale of the problem but compound it by withdrawing their products so that even if someone finds something to buy they now find that some banks don't have a single mortgage product to sell!"

Pryor calls on the newly nationalised Northern Rock to repay the tax payer by "getting back to work" and offering mortgages to buyers. "There seems to be money to pay bonuses," he points out.

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