UK house prices show weak rise in April
UK’s property owners are turning more cautious about asking for higher prices, according to a survey from an online property portal.
Property website Rightmove said that average asking prices were up by 0.2% over the month, less than the average 1.2% gain seen at this time of year. Compared with a year earlier, asking prices were 1.7% higher, down from a 3.0% annual increase a month earlier.
The figures point to a slowly stagnating market where a shortage of new properties for sale is keeping prices aloft despite a jump in mortgage rates and double-digit inflation. House prices rocketed during Covid-19 lockdowns, when government reduced duties on sales to boost demand.
“Agents are reporting that many sellers have transitioned out of the frenzied multi-bid market mindset of recent years and understand the new need to tempt Spring buyers with a competitive price,” Tim Bannister, Rightmove’s director of property science, said in a statement earlier this week.
While asking price growth slowed, first-time buyers faced record prices, and there were signs of improving confidence among buyers and sellers. Rightmove said that property sales bounced back to levels in line with pre-pandemic norms. Data for March showed the number of houses on sale at estate agents improved for a second month and the average time to find a buyer for a property declined to 55 days.
According to Rightmove, the housing market is adjusting to a slower pace and a "more normal" activity levels seen before the pandemic.
"The current unexpectedly stable conditions may tempt more sellers to enter the market who had been considering a move in the last few years but had been put off by its frenetic pace,” Bannister noted. "Buyers may have struggled to find a home that suited their needs in the stock-constrained market of recent years and will now find more choice available.
London and the North East of England were the only regions to see prices fall compared to the previous month. Prices were flat in the capital compared to a year earlier with the affluent borough of Kensington and Chelsea suffering the biggest fall.
Closely-watched indicators have been sending conflicting signals about the health of the housing market in recent months. While Nationwide’s house price index shows the biggest falls since 2009, Rightmove’s suggests a more stable picture. Official data indicates that average prices were still 5.5% higher in February than a year earlier but edged down on the month.
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