An early indication of where prices are headed in the second half of 2010 according to the property website Rightmove was presented this month with new sellers dropping their asking prices for the first time this year, down by 0.6% (£1,435). New seller numbers are now outstripping new mortgage approvals by approximately 5:2 which should give buyers the upper hand in terms of choice and price over the forthcoming months.
Miles Shipside, commercial director of Rightmove, comments: “The number of new mortgages being approved each month is less than half the number of new sellers, with the imbalance being exacerbated by the increase of nearly 50% in the number of properties coming to market compared to a year ago. More aggressive pricing is now the order of the day, which means that conditions are ripe for a strong buyers’ market in the second half of 2010. This is likely to see the average price gains of 7% for the first half of the year wiped out by year-end, in line with Rightmove’s original forecast for the year of no net change in prices”.
Average asking prices increased by £15,506 (7.0%) in the first six months of this year from £222,261 to a peak of £237,767 in June.
Average asking prices in East Anglia, London, the South East, Yorkshire and Humberside, North West and the North were all lower month on month, with the biggest percentage reduction in asking prices being East Anglia with a reduction in asking prices for the month of 2.3% and an annualised rate also suggesting East Anglia has reduced prices the most – down by 2.3%. (Yorkshire and Humberside is the only other region where asking prices over the last 12 months have decreased – by 0.2%.)
The South West, Wales, the East Midlands and the West Midlands all showed a monthly increase. The average asking price increased in the West Midlands by 2.8% and on an annualised basis the biggest increase appears to be the East Midlands with the asking prices having increased 6.3% year on year.
27th July 2010