Rightmove - Eurozone Uncertainty Hits Seller Numbers and Prices

LONDON, November 21, 2011 -

The Rightmove House Price Index for November 2011 is released today and reveals that the average asking price for a property in the UK dropped by -3.1% (-£7,528) in the past month to now stand at £232,144.

This month’s statistics from Rightmove highlight how the relentless stream of economic uncertainty around the Eurozone crisis has eroded consumer confidence to the extent that it now dominates decisions when it comes to moving home. A 13% fall in the number of new sellers coming to market compared with the previous month, and an 11% fall compared with November 2010, illustrate a growing reluctance to make big financial decisions in these times of uncertainty. Those that have chosen or been forced to sell have dropped their prices by -£7,528 (-3.1%) in the last month, only the third fall so far in 2011 but the biggest monetary fall since December 2007.

Miles Shipside, director of Rightmove comments: “Markets dislike uncertainty, and so do people who are deciding whether or not to enter the property market. Agents report that many would-be sellers are postponing their marketing until the new year, influenced by the current wall-to-wall media coverage of the Greeks and Italians attempting to get their own far-flung houses in order. It’s no great surprise that those who have braved the stormy conditions have had to accept a substantial ‘haircut’ on their asking prices”.

The month-on-month fall of -3.1% is the third largest in percentage terms ever recorded by Rightmove. Though we reported a -3.2% fall last November, this year’s price drop is coupled with a substantial fall in the number of new sellers. New listings are down 11% on the same period a year ago. The current weekly run-rate of 21,375 new properties coming to market is the lowest recorded in November since the Lehman Brothers crash-affected period in 2008, when it was similarly depressed at 20,098.

Shipside adds: “Those who are highly motivated to sell will have to prepare for a longer period of subdued buyer activity before the market traditionally picks up in the new year, especially in locations where there is an oversupply of property for sale”.

For further statistics and to download the Rightmove November 2011 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

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

.