Currently the Brits are removing their mortgage requirements for home loans, the US banks have fired tens of thousands (north of 50-60,000) of their mortgage lending staff, and now this article has sellers offering renovation to sweeten the deal. All of that points to people not buying enough homes. The bank of england changed their requirements because not enough borrowers met it. The US banks have laid off their mortgage lenders because not enough people are borrowing money from them, and the home sellers at the ground level are adjusting their offers because, again, nobody is buying.