House Price Update to 22 September 2010

UK House Prices Situation: Asking prices continue to fall

UK House Prices Forecast: Weak market for remainder of 2010

Asking Prices Fall By 1.1% in September

The average asking price for a UK home fell by 1.1% in September, according to the latest house price survey by property website Rightmove.

Rightmove's website lists more than 90% of homes for sale in the UK and bases its house price index on the data it gathers from its own property listings. This means that its statistics are very current and reflect what is really happening to asking prices in the UK.

Rightmove found that asking prices fell by 1.1% in September, a smaller fall than August's 1.7% but significant nonetheless. Asking prices have now fallen by 3.4% over the last three months – cancelling out half the gains made in the first six months of the year. This means that new sellers are asking for an average of £8,016 less than they were in June. There are fewer new sellers than in June, too. Just 26,000 new properties were placed on the market in September – the lowest since April, the traditional start of the home selling season.

Commenting on the figures, Rightmove Commercial Director Miles Shipside said "whether you think we are bumping along the bottom of a U-shaped recovery or are about to double-dip into a W, your property will need to tick all the right boxes to sell this autumn." According to Shipside, that means that "price, presentation and promotion are absolutely critical".

Shipside also commented that "the ongoing mortgage famine" has combined with the suspension of HIPs to create a "supply hangover" – a large number of unsold properties that is resulting in falling prices as competition for "proceedable buyers" – those with approved mortgage deals – increases.

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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