House Price Update to 17 November 2010

UK House Prices Situation: Asking prices weakening nationally

UK House Prices Forecast: Housing market likely to be very slow through winter

Asking Prices Fall By 3.2%

Average asking prices fell by 3.2% in the month from 10th October – 6th November, according to property website Rightmove. This brings the annual rate of change down to just 1.3%.

Rightmove lists around 90% of properties for sale in the UK and tracks the asking prices of these houses. Over the last month, one of the more worrying trends seen by the website has been that the number of new sellers coming to market has been approximately double the number of new mortgage approvals. While not all deals need a mortgage and not all houses will sell, this statistic still suggests that mortgage availability could be restricting housing market activity a little.

Rightmove's Commercial Director Miles Shipside says that "First-time buyers and buy-to-let investors appear to have gone missing from estate agents' books." However, he says there are some signs of hope that buyers and sellers are starting to become more realistic about the value of their homes and have realised that "it is the price to trade up that is the key factor."

This is an important point, as Shipside explains: "Those buying as well as selling may have to reduce their price aspirations, but if they get 10% less on theirs whilst achieving a 10% drop on their purchase then they will come out ahead."

Government Figures Show Autumn Price Fall

The latest house price figures published by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) show that house prices fell by 0.7% in the three months to September.

However, this fall came on the back of rise in the previous three months and the DCLG says that "House prices rose in all UK countries except Northern Ireland in the year to September 2010."

Read about UK House Price indexes / key statistics that track the ups and downs of house prices

Read our take on the Credit Crisis the effect on UK House Prices and Mortgages. A Special Report

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