UK estate agency Foxtons warns of 'less certain' sales market

(Reuters) - British estate agency Foxtons Group Plc flagged a "less certain" sales market on Thursday, as rising mortgage rates and a deepening cost-of-living crisis crimp homebuyers' purchasing capacity.

Britain's tax-cutting "mini-budget" last month led to a rout of the government bonds, pushing up borrowing costs for lenders and causing turmoil in the mortgage market, while soaring energy bills among other inflationary pressures in recent months have put consumers in a tight spot.

"We enter fourth quarter with a less certain sales market backdrop, but cost action taken in the first-half period and our resilient lettings and financial services businesses leave us positioned to weather further macroeconomic and political challenges" Chief Executive Officer Guy Gittins said in a statement.

Foxtons said it expected to deliver annual results ahead of its previous expectations, spurred by potentially strong performance in its lettings business.

London's largest estate agent said group revenue for the three months ended Sept. 30 rose 25% to 43.8 million pounds ($50.9 million), with revenue from lettings transactions climbing 18% to 29.2 million pounds.

($1 = 0.8607 pounds)

(This story has been corrected to say lettings revenue grew 18%, not 4% in paragraph 2)

(Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)