House prices fall another 1% as lending terms tighten further
House prices: The market is 'on its knees'. Photo: Rex/Nicholas Bailey
The average price of a house in England and Wales dropped by £2,378 over the past month, with banks continuing to tighten lending conditions as the credit crunch took a turn for the worse.
According to the property website Rightmove, the average price fell by 1% in September compared with August and by 3.3% compared with the same month a year ago. This was the fourth monthly fall in a row but less than August's drop of 2.3%. Rightmove said this was because sellers who had to market their properties during the holiday season were forced to price more competitively.
Miles Shipside, Rightmove's commercial director, said: "The housing market is on its knees 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.
"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."
The east Midlands suffered the biggest monthly fall, with the average price of a house dropping by 5.3% to £174,324. This was followed by the south-west, where the average price of a house dropped 3.9% to £253,996.
In London, however, the average price of a house rose 4% to £379,162. (AtW's comment: didn't they hear about kredit krunch?
) Every London borough saw house prices rise, with the biggest increase in Kensington and Chelsea, where prices rose 9.7%. This was closely followed by Kingston upon Thames, where prices went up by 8.1%.
The website said recent stamp duty changes had had little impact on the market. "The changes are just tinkering at the edges of the system, and at best will give slightly more choice to first-time buyers, who will be able to put the 1% they save towards the minimum 10% deposit they are now likely to require," Shipside said.
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No news on prices in Swindon - apparently some millionaire with dim pockets bought all the housing stock
House prices: The market is 'on its knees'. Photo: Rex/Nicholas Bailey
The average price of a house in England and Wales dropped by £2,378 over the past month, with banks continuing to tighten lending conditions as the credit crunch took a turn for the worse.
According to the property website Rightmove, the average price fell by 1% in September compared with August and by 3.3% compared with the same month a year ago. This was the fourth monthly fall in a row but less than August's drop of 2.3%. Rightmove said this was because sellers who had to market their properties during the holiday season were forced to price more competitively.
Miles Shipside, Rightmove's commercial director, said: "The housing market is on its knees 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.
"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."
The east Midlands suffered the biggest monthly fall, with the average price of a house dropping by 5.3% to £174,324. This was followed by the south-west, where the average price of a house dropped 3.9% to £253,996.
In London, however, the average price of a house rose 4% to £379,162. (AtW's comment: didn't they hear about kredit krunch?
) Every London borough saw house prices rise, with the biggest increase in Kensington and Chelsea, where prices rose 9.7%. This was closely followed by Kingston upon Thames, where prices went up by 8.1%.The website said recent stamp duty changes had had little impact on the market. "The changes are just tinkering at the edges of the system, and at best will give slightly more choice to first-time buyers, who will be able to put the 1% they save towards the minimum 10% deposit they are now likely to require," Shipside said.
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No news on prices in Swindon - apparently some millionaire with dim pockets bought all the housing stock
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