Asking prices slide 0.4% in June

Rightmove has reported that the average asking price of homes in England and Wales fell 0.4% in the five weeks to 13th June.

The decline follows a 2.4% rise in the same period to 9th May, equating to a jump of £5,000 in a typical vendor’s ambitions.

According to the property website, the average asking price now stands at 226,436, down 5.5% on a year ago but 6% above the average for the beginning of the year.

Strangely, this month’s drop comes alongside evidence of “green shoots” in the UK’s housing market, with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors reporting that a rise in new buyer inquiries is translating into sales.

In addition, the National Association of Estate Agents estimates that there are now four buyers for every property on the market.

However, Rightmove’s commercial director, Miles Shipside, warns: “While conditions are much improved on the darkest days of last year, we are now starting to see some big distortions and wild swings due to the combined effects of recession and restricted mortgage availability.”

For example, the best mortgage deals are still only available to those with large deposits, meaning that many first-time buyers are still excluded from the market and that vendors at the cheaper end of the scale are having to lower their expectations.

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