Asking price for UK properties have reached new high but the market, overall, is less buoyant
Asking prices for UK properties have reached new high but the market, overall, is less buoyant, Rightmove says.
Sellers of new-to-the-market property in the U.K. pushed their asking prices up 0.8%, or £2,343 (US$3,146), this month to a new record high of £308,075 (US$413,683), according to a report from Rightmove on Monday.
The increase in asking prices is unevenly spread, however. Different markets are operating at different speeds, and while the figures look good, the “overall picture is one of a less buoyant market both in terms of price growth and number of sales agreed,” the report said.
Rightmove director and housing market analyst, Miles Shipside said in the report that after six years of continual year-on-year price growth the current market is becoming increasingly price-sensitive, with new-to-the-market sellers being limited to an average asking price growth of just 1.1% over the last year.
Annual rates of asking price growth are highest in the East Midlands (4.8%), the West Midlands (4.3%) and Wales (4.3%).
All other regions in the U.K. logged positive year-on-year growth except for London, which logged annual declines of 0.2% and the South East of England which dipped 0.1%.
The last time the South East recorded an annual price fall was in 2011, according to the report. That suggests the property market in London is having an impact on the nearby areas as the city’s poor market performance is affecting its closest surrounding areas where the number of deals is down the most.
The number of transactions in the U.K. is down 5.4% compared to the same period last year, the online real estate portal said.
The South East saw the largest fall in sales, down 8.5% compared to 2017. In the East of England sales were down 7.8%, and sales fell 6.9% in Greater London, according to the report.
