Average asking price of UK property rises

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by Kay Murchie

According to property website Rightmove, the average asking price of a UK home rose 1.2% to £242,500 in May from £239,521 in April.

However, Rightmove said the housing market is continuing to struggle in spite of the surprise increase.

The rise was due to optimistic new sellers in the South of England and masked year-on-year falls across much of the rest of the country, according to Rightmove.

Miles Shipside of Rightmove said new sellers are bullish but said they are unlikely to get a price close to what they are asking.

On a year-on-year basis, property prices were 2.2% higher than 12 months earlier, up on last month’s 1.3%.

However, the situation varies widely throughout the country. Six out of 10 regions are lower on a year-on-year basis while in the South East they are 6% higher.

Buyers’ affordability is declining so sellers need to be more realistic about the prices they ask, concluded Mr Shipside.

A report yesterday by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) said a collapse in house sales over the next 12 months could cause a reduction in consumer spending by up to 8% and destroy the high street.

Rics warned that the number of house sales could fall by around 40% this year and added that the latter half of the year would be a challenging time for the housing market.