Rightmove Forecasts Second Half of the Year Price Falls to Wipe Out First Half Gains

LONDON, July 19, 2010 - The Rightmove House Price Index
(www.rightmove.co.uk/news/house-price-index) for July records that
the average asking price for a property in the UK is currently GBP236,332, a
drop of -0.6% on June figures

With new seller numbers outstripping new mortgage approvals by
approximately 5:2, the second half of the year looks set to see prices drift
back to where they were at the beginning of the year as buyers get the upper
hand. An early indication of where prices are headed is new-to-market sellers
dropping their asking prices for the first time this year, down by 0.6%
(GBP1,435) this month.

Miles Shipside, commercial director of Rightmove, comments: "The number
of new mortgages being approved each month is less than half the number of
new sellers, with the imbalance being exacerbated by the increase of nearly
50% in the number of properties coming to market compared to a year ago. More
aggressive pricing is now the order of the day, which means that conditions
are ripe for a strong buyers' market in the second half of 2010. This is
likely to see the average price gains of 7% for the first half of the year
wiped out by year-end, in line with Rightmove's original forecast for the
year of no net change in house prices
(www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices.html)".

The end of spring traditionally heralds a tougher time for sellers as the
market goes into recess for the summer. The 123,507 new sellers that
Rightmove has recorded coming to market in this month's index have reacted by
asking an average of 0.6% less for their property than the month before. This
is the first month-on-month fall in 2010, and with the likelihood of more
economic pain to come, we forecast further downward pressure on new sellers'
asking prices. Average asking prices increased by GBP15,506 (7.0%) in the
first six months of this year from GBP222,261 to a peak of GBP237,767 in
June. While there will be some major variations between different local
housing markets, we predict the national average will fall by a similar
amount by year-end, reversing the gains recorded in the more buoyant first
half of 2010.

For further statistics and to download the Rightmove July 2010House Price
Index please visit - www.rightmove.co.uk/news/house-price-indexor
search for local house prices at www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices.html

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

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