Average Price for Homes Drops

The price being asked for homes on the market has fallen by 3.1 per cent in the past month, according to a study by property website, Rightmove.

On average, the asking price of a newly marketed property has fallen during November from £239,672 to £232,144. This is a drop of over £7,500 compared to October.

Rightmove have said that prices, and the number of homes that are up for sale, have become depressed by the current economic uncertainty in the UK.

This fall in asking prices is the biggest in cash terms on record since December 2007, and the third largest in percentage terms recorded so far.

Miles Shipside of Rightmove has stated that they feel the usual seasonal slowdown had in fact started early this year.

“The relentless stream of economic uncertainty around the eurozone crisis has eroded consumer confidence to the extent that it now dominates decisions when it comes to moving home,” said Mr Shipside.

“A 13 per cent fall in the number of new sellers coming to market compared with the previous month, and an 11 per cent fall compared with November 2010, illustrate a growing reluctance to make big financial decisions.”

Rightmove, who advertise 90 per cent of all UK homes for sale, say that 107,000 new homes have been put on the market between October 9^th and November 12^th.

With these lower prices, and more and more homes being put on the market, now if the perfect time for first-time mortgage holders to look at getting a property.

However, most first-time buyers will need to borrow money and currently have to put down a deposit averaging 20 per cent of the purchase price, in order to obtain a home loan, making it more difficult to get onto the property ladder than first thought.

This has managed to choke the supply of buyers and cut the overall level of sales being made, to less than half of that recorded before the economic crisis in 2008.