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The average asking price of homes on the UK market fell by 2.1% in the past month, according to Rightmove, which said it had seen the biggest pre-Christmas drop in four years.
The UK’s biggest property website said the average asking price at the start of December was £359,137 – around £7,862 less than a month earlier. The fall in asking prices followed a 1.1% fall in November prices and will be seen as further evidence that the property market is cooling rapidly.
Quasi Kwarteng’s infamous mini-budget, which sent mortgage rates rocketing, seems to be the point where property prices peaked – at least for now.
Last week Halifax said prices in the UK fell 2.3% in November, the biggest monthly drop in its index since the start of the 2008 financial crisis.
Earlier in the month, Nationwide said UK house prices were falling at their fastest pace in almost two-and-a-half years, as September’s mini-budget turmoil hit the sector.
Despite this, RightMove said that at the end of 2022, average asking prices were 5.6% higher than this time a year earlier, which is slightly lower than the 6.3% growth recorded in 2021.
However, with “some locations, property types and sectors doing better than others”, Multispeed predicts a 2% drop in prices next year as the hyperlocal market emerges.
The number of homes for sale on Rightmove was up 11% compared to this time last year, indicating there are many potential movers who are weighing up their options, it said.
“After two and a half years of frenetic activity it’s easy to forget that multiple bidders lining up to buy your home at once was the exception rather than the norm in the pre-pandemic years, and there will be an adjustment period for home-movers. Because properties take longer to find the right buyer,” said Rightmove’s Tim Bannister.
“We are moving towards a more even balance between supply and demand next year, but we do not expect a surge in forced sales, which will cause a glut of properties for sale and contribute to further significant price declines in 2023,” he added.
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