There has been a drop in the number of house sales falling through, according to data from Quick Move Now.

The home buyer said that the number of house sales failing to successfully complete fell in the first quarter of 2016, to just one in five house sales.

This represents a drop of just under 8% from the reported 27.9% in the last quarter of 2015. The annual fall through rate has remained constant at around 29%.

Danny Luke, business manager at Quick Move Now, said: “Whilst it is encouraging to see that the number of sales falling through before completion fell in the first three months of 2016, many property owners and would-be buyers would still be shocked to learn that one in five sales doesn’t go through.

“The two biggest reasons why house sales didn’t complete in the first quarter of 2016 were the vendor pulling out of the sale for a higher offer (25%) and either vendor or buyer pulling out because they felt the sale wasn’t progressing quickly enough (25%), which is unsurprising in the current market.”

With many areas experiencing very strong demand and low supply, vendors are keen to achieve the best possible price for their property so are willing to pull out of an agreed sale if made a better offer. Other reasons included the buyer changing their mind (18.7%) and buyer being refused lending by a mortgage provider (12.5%).

Luke added: “A lack of properties coming to market has led to prospective buyers having to move very quickly in order to secure a property, and may mean they put an offer in on a less than ideal property due to fear that they’ll be unable to find anything else, which accounts for buyers changing their minds and trying to renegotiate after the initial offer has been accepted – a collective figure of 25%.”