Rightmove: Asking prices fall further in December

Property website, Rightmove, has today reported a further fall in asking prices in December.

According to Rightmove, asking prices for residential property in England and Wales fell 3% - or £7,000 in the last month – the biggest drop since December 2007.

The property website, which claims to advertise 90% of the properties on the market, said the latest asking price fall takes the average price of a home listed on Rightmove to £222,410.

The website highlighted that asking prices in all regions of England and Wales have now fallen in five of the last six months.

There continues to be a high number of unsold properties on the market as buyer demand continues to weaken.

Buyers have adopted a “wait and see” approach as uncertainty continues to surround the economy and the Government’s spending cuts make prospective buyers cautious.

Miles Shipside, director of Rightmove, comments: “The fact that many would-be buyers do not have the ability to proceed and some homeowners find themselves in a position where they are forced to sell, drives prices down.”

As a result of its figures, Rightmove expects the situation to deteriorate in the next year as demand will remain weak by fears of rising unemployment and a lack of mortgage availability.

Last week, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said new mortgage lending showed a month-on-month fall of 4% in October, with 46,000 loans for house purchases advanced.

At £6.7 billion, the value of the advances was down 6% on September and 12% on October 2009, although last year’s figure was bolstered by buyers taking advantage of the stamp duty holiday.

Many experts have suggested that mortgage lending will remain subdued in the coming year.

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