House sales fell in August for the first time since January 2009.

Latest figures from HM Revenues & Customs (HMRC) show that house sales fell for the first time this year in August.

Traditionally a slower month for house sales, August saw sales slump by 4,000 compared to July. However, they are still double the figure for January and 19% higher than August 2008.

The figures are consistent with the picture from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) which reported last week that gross mortgage lending totalled an estimated £12.6 billion in August, down 13% compared to the figure of £14.5bn in July. The CML appeared undeterred by this figure as it said it represented a “seasonal decline” to be expected.

Michael Baxter, blogging on financial website Defaqto, remains cynical about the upturn in the housing market and says the inevitable crash will occur again if confidence gets too high: “The whole recovery in the housing market remains odd. House prices to average salary are still high, credit is in short supply and unemployment is rising.

“Low interest rates, which may well go up soon, are proving seductive. Low rates are like sirens, and would-be first-time buyers like Odysseus, desperate to hear their call. But unlike Odysseus, the gradual freeing up of credit markets means their shackles are being released, meaning an inevitable shipwreck on the rocks beckons.”