UK house prices suffer largest August decline since 2018 - Rightmove

(Alliance News) - UK house prices declined at the fastest pace for the month of August since ...

Alliance News 21 August, 2023 | 4:01AM
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(Alliance News) - UK house prices declined at the fastest pace for the month of August since 2018, while year-on-year, they declined for the first time since prior to the pandemic, according to numbers from Rightmove on Monday.

The property portal's latest findings showed house prices fell 1.9% on-month to GBP364,895 in August. It is the chunkiest August price fall since 2018. Prices had declined by 0.2% in July from June.

Would-be buyers were "preoccupied by holidays, inflation, and the highest base rate since 2008", Rightmove said. The Bank of England earlier in August lifted bank rate by 25 basis points to 5.25%.

"These lower asking prices, combined with increasing average earnings and the apparent downward trend of mortgage rates are tentative steps towards improved buyer affordability, although average prices are still GBP59,000 (19%) higher than in the pre-pandemic market of August 2019," Rightmove added.

On an annual basis, prices fell 0.1% in August, the first year-on-year decline in house prices since 2019.

The number of sales agreed is now 15% lower than the more normal 2019 level, Rightmove noted, in a sign of "affordability challenges".

Rightmove analyst Tim Bannister said: "However, with sales holding up more strongly in the typical first-time buyer sector, the prospect owning your own home remains an appealing option for those that can afford it, with the alternative being an extremely frenzied rental market, where rents are at record levels."

By Eric Cunha, Alliance News news editor

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