British Mortgage Issues May Drag Home Sales, Prices Down

London–As borrowers face tighter lending restrictions, fewer homes will change hands in Britain this year, the Guardian reports.An overall lack of mortgage availability could keep potential buyers out of the market, driving prices down further.In fact, the mortgage decline could drag the number of transactions down to 750,000 for all of 2008–which would be almost a 40 percent drop from 2007, according to Consultancy Capital Economics. Home prices could fall 35 percent.