Century's Lowest Stock Levels Provide a Spring Window for Sellers - Rightmove House Price Index January 2010

LONDON, January 18 - Rightmove, the UK's number one property website, today releases its House
Price Index for January 2010. The survey reveals that the average asking
price for a property in the UK has risen by 0.4% on December figures to
GBP222,261, an increase of 4.1% on January 2009.

If your New Year's resolution is to move home, you should note that the
first house price statistics relating to activity in 2010 show increases in
both seller confidence and buyer interest. The optimism of sellers who have
come to market so far in January has resulted in a 0.4% rise, causing a big
turnaround in figures that were on course for a third consecutive monthly
fall. This coincides with potential home-mover activity hitting new record
highs, with the Rightmove website recording its busiest ever week.

Miles Shipside, commercial director of Rightmove comments: "This rise in
asking prices is an early indicator that new sellers in 2010 have the
confidence to try for a higher price, as the index was lined up for a fall
until the turn of the year. We were expecting a drop of about 1%, as the
majority of this month's index falls in December, but the optimism of those
early January sellers flipped it around. With home-movers setting new search
records on Rightmove and a lack of property for sale, the decision of post
New Year sellers to ask for higher house prices could be a shrewd move. In
spite of problems brewing for later in the year, there are definitely some of
the ingredients for a buoyant spring, and a window of opportunity that
sellers may wish to take advantage of".

The number of available properties per estate agency branch is now 63,
its lowest level since January 2008. However, with many estate agency
branches having closed, this figure is buoyed by the smaller number of
branches sharing the available stock. This month's index records 50,624
properties coming to market, and whilst a 15% increase on last year, this is
still massively down on the 89,000 average of the same period in 2006 and
2007. Lack of supply has been driven by reduced access to mortgage funds,
economic uncertainty and a low level of forced sales.

One of the first signs of the 2009 recovery was record January traffic on
Rightmove, indicating pent-up buyer interest. Rightmove has again recorded
its busiest ever week, with 157,402,812 pages viewed between the 4th and 10th
of January, up 26% on the first working week of 2009. Shipside observes:
"This is the busiest ever start to a new year on Rightmove. As ever, this
time of year sees potential buyers starting to search for their dream home.
Those who held off from selling during 2009 are now researching what
competition they face in their local area and assessing which estate agents
might be best placed to sell their property".

Shipside summarises: "Within the shrunken housing market that has become
the current norm, there are very active market segments where buyers and
sellers who are able to proceed are getting together and are striking deals.
While there are political and economic clouds on the horizon, there are signs
that we are in for an active spring before the storm breaks later in the
year."

For further statistics and to download the Rightmove December 2009 House
Price Index please visit - www.rightmove.co.uk/news/house-price-index
or search for local house prices at
www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices.html

Tom McGuigan, Rightmove Press Office, press at rightmove.co.uk, +44(0)207-087-0700