House asking prices down 2.1% in August, says Rightmove

By This Is Money Reporters
Updated: 05:58 EDT, 15 August 2011

Asking house prices in England and Wales have declined for a second consecutive month in August, according to property website Rightmove.

The average person putting their home up for sale dropped their asking price by 2.1 per cent in August to £231,543, compared to homes put up for sale in July. 

Rightmove said August asking prices are now 0.3 per cent lower compared to 12 months ago, their first drop on an annual basis since September 2009.

Down: Asking prices are now lower than a year ago, the Rightmove research said

Rightmove director Miles Shipside said the market is in limbo, adding that in many areas of the UK activity is limited to ‘sellers who are willing to price aggressively below the competition and who can afford to do deals’.

London, which has been this year’s strongest regional housing market, recorded the biggest month-on-month drop at 3.4 per cent.

Average asking prices in the capital dropped from £432,641 to £418,008 with all 32 London boroughs registering a fall, Rightmove said.

The number of properties coming to market in London also declined by 9 per cent compared to July and by 18 per cent from August 2010.

'The London housing market has done an about-turn over the summer, with prices that had been advancing steadily and setting new records now falling back more sharply than in the rest of the country,' said Shipside.

All areas in the country saw a dip except Wales and Yorkshire Humberside, which recorded modest increases.