The average asking price for London properties fell by 1.2% this month, latest date from the Rightmove house price index reveals.
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Although the drop is in line with a 1.2% average over the last six years, Rightmove says there have only been larger drops in two of those years and believes that 2016 is “on course to be a year of two halves”.
It leaves London overall up 2.1 percent on the year, one the slowest growth rates of any United Kingdom region.
“Owners of more highly priced properties tend to prioritize their holidays over putting their property up for sale, which gives some anomalies in average prices in the most expensive boroughs at this time of year”, said Rightmove Director Miles Shipside.
‘With the timing of Brexit uncertainty coinciding with both the seasonal slowdown and continuing the lull following the first quarter buy-to-let surge, 2016 will be a year of two halves.
The sector that would benefit most from an autumn pick-up is made up of larger homes with four bedrooms or more, according to the portal’s data for the past four weeks, released this morning.
This increase is partly due to investors rushing to complete on buy-to-let properties before stamp duty was hiked by 3pc in April.
In London, asking prices fell by 2.6 per cent in August – the biggest month-on-month dip of all the regions.
Despite the decrease, the average asking price is still 4.1% higher than it was a year ago.
Yorkshire and Humber and the West Midlands were the only regions to buck the trend of a month-on-month fall, with asking prices in those regions increasing by 1.2 per cent and 1.1 per cent respectively.
The time it takes to sell a home in London increased by five days between May and July, while in the South East and the South West the length of time to sell increased by four days and in the East of England the length of time increased by three days. The South East saw a monthly decline of 2.0% to an average of £382,182. “How different they are will depend upon the strength of the traditional market rebound this autumn, especially at the upper end of the market and within the London commuter belt, which now appear to be the most subdued” he adds.
But the long term outlook was slightly more positive with 23 per cent more of those surveyed expecting house prices to rise rather than fall compared to a neutral level of zero in June.
Rics said slowing price growth was evident across most of the United Kingdom and its survey indicated that house sales declined sharply as a result of the dip in demand and an ongoing shortage of stock.
‘Against this backdrop, it is not altogether surprising that near-term activity measures remain relatively flat’.
Prices of homes for sale dropped 1.2% on the month in August, the biggest fall since November, following a 0.9% decline in July.
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House prices have fallen over £3,600 in the last month following uncertainty due Britain’s decision to leave the European Union and the summer slowdown, new figures show.
