House prices continue to fall

22 September 2008

The five weeks between August and September saw that house prices fell again, by one per cent.

The latest house price survey from Rightmove, which focussed on asking prices, pegged the average property at a price of £227,438 as a result of the drop.

Miles Shipside, commercial director of Rightmove, hinted that the results may be due to fewer homeowners putting their homes up for sale.

"The housing market is in limbo and will remain so until financial institutions address the disastrous state of the mortgage funding markets. We are now seeing the lowest level of new sellers for years," he said.

"There's a baseline level of activity from those that have to sell, but beyond that, discretionary sellers are increasingly scarce. While this market provides a good opportunity to trade up, it requires a degree of bravery in the face of the ongoing turmoil in the financial markets."

Anybody selling as a result of the falling prices may wish to put some possessions into safe storage, to allow buyers to see the space potential of a home.

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