Another strong indication this week is that property prices in the UK are on the way down and far from bottoming out.
This could mean attractive opportunities are emerging for entrepreneurs to buy into the market.
The cost of borrowing behind the fall
The UK’s resilient housing market – which held up during COVID – is falling as the Bank of England sustains a string of interest rate rises as it fights inflation.
Rightmove– one of the UK’s biggest property outfits – says property prices fell by 1.9% in August – the biggest monthly fall since 2018.
First-time buyers are down 10%
It also says the number of home sales has fallen by 15%, compared with 2019, along with the prices of homes.
Sales of homes typically sought by first-time buyers fell by a less severe 10%, reflecting a 12% jump in rents for properties in that category over the past year, Rightmove said.
Homes on the market as a whole were down by 10% compared with August 2019.
Average house prices are down by £7,012
The average price of a UK home came down by £7,012 this month to £364,895.
Houses in the South West dipped the most sharply over the month, by 3.2 %, to leave an average price for the region of £384,182.
London prices fell 2.3% over the same period with an average price of £672,961.
The cheapest place to buy in the UK is the North East. There the average home will set you back £186,144, according to Rightmove.
Data mirrors warnings from mortgage lenders
The data mirrors recent warnings from the mortgage lenders Nationwide and Halifax.
Nationwide says UK housing prices fell by the most since 2009 in the 12 months to July and blames rising interest rates.
Compared with July last year, the average house price was down 3.8% after a 3.5% annual fall in June, Nationwide said. Other gauges of the housing market point to weak activity caused by rising interest rates, which have pushed mortgage rates above 6% for home buyers and existing mortgagors looking to refinance.
