According to Lloyds Bank the number of people moving home last year has fallen for the first time in five years.
A total of 354,000 UK housesholds moved, this is four per cent fewer than 2015.
The bank has said this is the first annual decline since 2011.
The rising costs of new homes are to blame, on average new properties cost £291,777, this is a seven per cent increase on 2015 numbers.
In some parts of the south of England, anyone looking to buy a new home has to put down a deposit of more than £100,000.
Two estate agents reported profit warnings in 2016 due to the falling sales.
Foxtons saw a huge fall of 42 per cent in its profits in July and Countrywide who own 55 different estate agents said it expected its transactions to fall by six per cent over the year.
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