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Market could have bottomed last winter, says Rightmove

20 July 2009
Written by rosalind renshaw

Today’s Rightmove figures on asking prices suggest a market which is unpredictable.

The company says it cannot be absolutely sure if prices have reached bottom, have further to fall or will rise.

While it has plumped for a ‘steady’ market in which nothing changes in the second half of this year, it also admits that the current ‘green shoots’ could be a false bounce, with prices falling a further 10% this year.

But it also says that a resurgence could see asking prices rising by a total of 12% this year.

Asking prices have risen this month by just 0.6% over June, by 3.1% since this time a year ago, and by 6.7% since the start of 2009. But the difference between asking prices and the reality of sales prices is pronounced.

Rightmove says that in July, the average asking price is nearly £228,000. By contrast, in June, Halifax and Nationwide both reported actual sales prices of around £157,000.

Rightmove says today that, with hindsight, the best property bargains were in the second half of last year.

Its report also talks about a 50-year low in transactions. It adds that as in most market corrections, there was a price undershoot that appears to have rectified itself this spring, with average rises of circa 1% a month.

Miles Shipside, commercial director at Rightmove, said: “There is now clear evidence that there were some fire-sale prices last winter, when a few brave buyers correctly called the bottom of the market.

“In most parts of the country, prices have consistently improved during spring. With growing confidence that we’ve passed the bottom, buyers are more active, although they may discover that many of the best buys have gone.”

He said that buyer activity remains strong, with traffic on Rightmove’s website remaining much higher than expected during June and July which are typically quieter months.

He added: “Last year traffic peaked in March, then reduced significantly as summer approached. However, in 2009, the tail-off has been almost non-existent. This year the number of pages viewed remains at 97% of its spring high, compared to 79% in 2008. Indeed, some agents are reporting some of their best weeks’ sales so far this year.”

Rightmove also reports that the number of new sellers is the highest so far this year, at 21,364 a week. While this is still well below the historic norm of circa 35,000, it represents a 20% increase in sellers.

Shipside warned that there is a continuing overhang of stale property on agents’ books.

Comments

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    why would i get repossessed? a fixed mortgage for 5 years well under 6% (historically interests average out about 7%) and under £500 per month. even if I had to rent the property out it would bring back a return of nearly double that

    • 21 July 2009 17:50 PM
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    Marc hope prices don't fall by the same % this year, you go into negative equity then Connells repo you and sell it cheap to the next FTB

    • 21 July 2009 16:46 PM
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    All i can say is that its been fantastic for me as a first time buyer as it has rewarded me and my girlfriend for saving and working hard - managed to get a 4 bed semi detatched property for £106k compared to £170k last year. The mortgages are there for the people who can afford to buy property unlike for the past 5 years!

    • 21 July 2009 16:24 PM
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    One thing they didn't say was how poor the lenders like Halifax continue to provide mortgages ... must own for 6 months before you can sell! Great for builders doing part exchange that one.

    • 21 July 2009 13:39 PM
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    Trevor, nice preach, not sure why you bothered? Unlikely many more casualties, the slack has long gone from most businesses, I suspect those that have done so well to survive to here, will get through, without being patronised either.

    • 21 July 2009 10:17 AM
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    more nonsense. Pray, what is supporting house prices right now. Is it the thriving economy..erm..no. is it availability of fiance...erm.no. It is the 0.5% base rate which is underpinning prices. Had the bank of england kept the base at 5%, house prices would still be falling off a cliff. The sad fact is base rates, the economy and affordability are all as good as they are going to be for many years. As soon as inflation kicks in from all that money they are printing, rates will climb, the public sector will take a massive hit next year and beyond resulting in an escalation of repossessions, we will all be paying more tax next year and beyond too. Only an idiot would predict a sustained recovery at this juncture.

    • 20 July 2009 20:59 PM
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    Typical RightMove talking up the market. What a waste of space.

    • 20 July 2009 17:21 PM
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    Key to survival is A1 staff, managers and bosses. The poorly run offices will fold over the winter and at the moment are poorly staffed with bad staff that the few callers in really don't want to deal with when a better agent operates up the road. Presentation is also key, agents need kerb appeal to pull the clients and applicants in. The winter will kill off the badly run agencies. The strong will survive and thrive with lower post Xmas property prices. www.inea.co.uk / www.remoteagent.co.uk

    • 20 July 2009 10:57 AM
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