Sharp fall in London property “asking prices”

A healthy dose of realism in the market or a panic response to the absence of buyers, Rightmove finds that asking prices for London properties coming onto the market have fallen by over 5% in just one month - equivalent to shaving more than £20,000 off the asking value of housing. The asking price trend is a good indicator of the balance between supply and demand in the property market.

With mortgage finance drying up, falling demand is creating a glut of unsold houses on the market - the balance of power is switching firmly to potential buyers providing they have the finances behind them to buy.

And in this particular game of cat and mouse, if you are desperate to sell (i.e. you are a forced seller rather than a discretionary seller) then the pressure is on to drop the asking price to encourage some interest.

For many - the desperate state of the market is leading them to instruct estate agents to rent out their properties rather than settle for a much lower price when the transaction is finally achieved.

Selected info from the August Rightmove report:

UK Average UK Property Asking Price £229,816 % Change in Month -2.3% % Change in Past Year -4.8% Average unsold stock of property per estate agency branch = 78

Greater London Average property asking price = £379,162 % Change in Month -5.3% % Change in Past Year -3.8%