Property prices ignore spring and continue slide

As the Bank of England puts the finishing touches to its £50 billion rescue package for the UK’s banks, latest figures from Rightmove indicate that the housing market is headed for a crash, unless the mortgage famine is relieved.

The property website has revealed that in April, asking prices have been falling, despite spring traditionally being one of the hottest months for property sales.

Asking prices fell by 0.1% between March 16th and April 12th, against an average rise for the period in previous years of 2.8%.

The decline left the annual rate of asking price inflation at 1.3% in April, down from 5% in March.

According to Rightmove, the average asking price of a UK home is now £239,521.

The average price in the North-West has dropped to £176,431, down 4.2%, or £7,681 on April 2007.

Meanwhile, in London’s favoured borough of Kensington and Chelsea, asking prices have been falling at up to £33,000 in a month.

The number of homes on the market is at record levels and successful vendors are waiting longer to complete a sale.

Rightmove’s commercial director, Miles Shipside, believes the slide in asking prices could escalate because cash buyers, and those with the large deposits currently favoured by mortgage lenders, will ultimately dominate the market and demand large discounts.

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