Asking prices for newly listed homes falls by £12k in two months, says Rightmove
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Newly listed house asking prices have fallen by almost £12,000 over the last two months, Rightmove data shows. The average asking price fell for the second month in a row in December, going from £366,592 to £360,197, a drop of 1.7 per cent. This follows from the previous month, which saw average asking prices fall £5,366 between October and November equating to a drop of 1.4 per cent.
This means over the past two months, the typical newly listed asking price has fallen by £11,761. While this sounds like a big fall, it is broadly in line with the seasonal norm in the run up to Christmas, according to Rightmove. This is because buyers' tend to put their plans on hold until the new year with sellers’ pricing power diminishing as Christmas approaches.
Tough sell: New sellers typically need to come to market with some of the most competitive prices of the year in December, to motivate festivity-distracted buyers to act. However, despite the festive lull, activity remains substantially stronger than the same period a year ago, according to the property portal.
It says the number of sales being agreed is up by 22 per cent, and new buyer enquiries is up by 13 per cent. Tim Bannister, a property expert at Rightmove said: 'New sellers in December have to work particularly hard to capture the attention of Christmas-party and festivity-distracted buyers, and the 1.7 per cent average monthly fall is a fitting gift for those who are still buying homes rather than presents.
