Average asking price for a home falls £4,345 in a month

Rightmove has reported that the average asking price of a UK home fell by 1.8% between June and July, indicating vendors’ acquiescence to a significant market downturn.

According to the website, the rate of decline took £4,345 off the asking price of the average property and outstripped the previous record for July when, in 2005, asking prices fell 1%.

The decline is 2% below the average asking price in July 2007 and represents the first annual drop since Rightmove’s records began in 2002.

The new figures mean that the average asking price across England and Wales has dropped by £7,281 to £235,219, since May.

Homeowners in the South East (excluding London) have been worst affected: the average asking price in the region stood at £316,521 in May and has fallen £17,829 in two months.

In July, the number of unsold properties per estate agency rose to 77, up from 74 in June.

However, new instructions have remained low with the bulk of properties on estate agents’ books reflecting the poor level of completed sales brought about by a shortage of mortgage funds.

Rightmove is pessimistic about the short-term direction of UK house prices and advises those thinking of selling to market their homes at a realistic price before prices fall even further.

The firm’s data is based on over 120,000 asking prices (around 90% of the market).

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