A price decline in residential property, ahead of the traditional winter slowdown, hasn’t snuffed optimism in the UK real estate market where a majority of territories have seen price growth over the past year. While sales are expected to pick up in spring, mortgage inaccessibility and inventory limited by market-wary sellers and builders, have dampened recovery. For more on this, see the following article from Property Wire.
Residential property prices in the UK have fallen for the first time in three months but there is still confidence and a Spring surge is predicted.
The Rightmove monthly index is the first for many months to show a decline in property prices.
They are down 1.6% between October and November with the organization saying that it believes a dash to sell before Christmas has prompted sellers to reduce prices.
It said the average house price fell from £230,184 in October to £226,440 in November.
But house prices are still 1.6% higher than this time last year and this is the largest increase since a 2.2% rise in May 2008.
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Rightmove is predicting further declines in December and January, traditionally the slowest time of the year for the real estate market.
‘In all but the most buoyant of markets, home moving comes second to Christmas festivities.
While the market has recovered from some dreadful lows, this month’s price fall proves that it doesn’t have the strength to buck seasonal trends,’ explained Miles Shipside, commercial director of Rightmove.
‘We expect three months of asking price falls before a tentative recovery in early spring, likely followed by pre-election jitters,’ he added.
The index also shows that property stocks remained low, with 30% fewer homes coming onto the market this month than the same point in 2007, and mortgage availability is still hampering a recovery in the market.
Many would-be sellers are still unwilling or unable to come to market and with the number of new-build properties running at half of the levels required to satisfy anticipated demand, aspiring home movers are set for a frustrating time for years to come, it says.
And overall the picture is promising with seven out of 10 regions showing prices are actually up on an annual basis.
The South-East saw the largest increase in prices, with an average rise of 3.8% driven by the lowest average stock levels per estate agent.
The East Midlands was the worst performer with prices 1.6% below those of November 2008.
Rightmove has also found that the upcoming end to the stamp duty holiday is not causing a flood of sellers and buyers to come to the market.
Currently properties between £125,000 and £175,000 are exempt from paying the 1% levy, with the exemption coming to an end on December 31 this year.
This article has been republished from Property Wire. You can also view this article at Property Wire, an international real estate news site.
