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UK retail sales falter, new buyer inquiries up

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-06-09 14:57

LONDON -- British economic data provided more conflicting signs on the economy Tuesday as leading industry groups reported falling retail sales in May and a rise in new buyer inquiries and sales in the housing market.

In its monthly survey, the British Retail Consortium said like-for-like retail sales -- those that exclude new stores and space -- declined by 0.8 percent in May from the year before, which produced some of 2008's best growth figures.

A man walks past a closed shop in central London May 13, 2009. [Agencies]

The BRC said that food sales slowed after a strong Easter boost in April, while clothing and footwear sales fell below strong sales in the previous year and homeware and furniture sales remained difficult.

Over the three months from March to May, like-for-like sales rose 0.7 percent compared to a year earlier.

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"The three-month average is up slightly overall but still well down on the rates regularly seen before the slowdown really hit retail a year ago," BRC Director General Stephen Robertson said. "The turnaround in sales of big-ticket items such as furniture and large electricals, which would indicate real change in the mood of customers, still eludes us."

Meanwhile, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors reported an increase in both new buyer inquiries and sales, as well as a reduction in the level of stocks, in May -- providing some support for property prices.

RICS said that 48 percent of surveyors reported a rise rather than a fall, the seventh consecutive monthly gain.

"On the face of it, the housing market does appear to be close to bottoming out with activity picking up in a material way and prices at last stabilizing," RICS spokesman Ian Perry said. "However it is important to remember that the lack of supply has been as important in underpinning prices as the rise in demand."