Rightmove say that average asking prices of new properties new to the market fell for the first time in five months this June.
Several surveys have suggested that housing prices rose over May, but new sellers are hesitant and the average asking price fell over the last month.
There is still a shortage of houses coming onto the market, Rightmove said, although there has been a 10% rise in new sellers over the last quarter, and a north-south divide is developing.
Rightmove added that a combination of lenders’ risk bias towards southern deposit-rich buyers, and fewer fresh saleable properties would suggest a speedier price recovery in the south.
Although equity-rich buyers are snapping up properties, a large sector of the market is still being sidelined, Miles Shipside, commercial director of Rightmove, said.
He added: “Property deals appear within the grasp of cash-strapped first-time buyers, but every rise in fixed rates frustratingly nudges them a bit further out of reach. Lenders need to be wary not to choke off the recovery in affordability and activity by punishing the returning buyers with ever widening margins.”
Source: www.aboutproperty.co.uk 22nd June 2009