[ad_1]
(Bloomberg) — UK home-sellers cut their asking prices at the fastest pace in four years after rising interest rates made buyers more hesitant, Rightmove Plc said.
The property search website said the average asking price fell 2.1% to £359,137 ($440,980) in December, accelerating from a 1.1% drop in October. While retailers typically offer discounts in December to help close sales before Christmas, Raitmove said the reduction was larger than usual for this time of year.
The figures add to evidence of a slowdown in the property market, with the two biggest mortgage lenders reporting price cuts in each of the past three months. Rightmove said the fall in values next year will be limited to 2% as constraints on the affordability of new homes are balanced by an increase in people looking to buy.
“Some buyers are put off not only by the festive season, but also by the idea that waiting until the New Year can get them a better fixed-rate mortgage deal and a more stable outlook,” said Tim Bannister, director of property at Rightmove. Science. “Our data suggests that there are a lot of ready movers out there waiting for what they feel is going to enter the market in 2023.”
Rightmove said views on its website were up 11% on a year ago, a sign that interest among potential buyers remains strong.
House prices fell the most in December in the south-west of England, down 3.4%. The decline was not as pronounced as in London, but the capital has seen the second-worst annual growth rate in the country, up just 4.6% from 2021.
The December findings showed price growth of 5.6% for 2022, a slowdown from 6.3% growth a year earlier. That underscores the toll of rising mortgage costs and economic uncertainty on the market over the course of the year.
The Bank of England has raised rates eight times in the past year, with the key rate hitting 3% in November, close to zero in 2021. Interest rates on mortgages soared above 6% in the previous government’s disastrous fiscal year. statement on September 23, and although the financial situation has stabilized since then, it has not come down much from that high.
This has led to lower demand among buyers, with rising costs of living adding to affordability concerns for homes.
Guy Gittins, chief executive officer of property agent Foxton, said: “We expect the number of new buyers to be lower on a mini-budget.” “We have not seen a large number of properties coming onto the market, so we expect to continue to have a constrained supply.”
Rightmove said the likelihood of forced sales remains low, helping to prevent a restructure like that seen in the early 1990s, when homes lost a fifth of their value in three years, leaving many mortgage holders in negative equity.
©2022 Bloomberg LP
[ad_2]
Source link
