House prices fall by £4,000 as buyers get the jitters over possible ‘surprises’ in upcoming budget

Average house prices are down just a month after hitting an all-time high of £4,159.

The decrease in the average asking price compared to October is a decrease of 1.1 percent on a monthly basis, according to real estate website Rightmove.

Last month, prices averaged a record £371,158 despite concerns over mortgage costs. Across Britain, the average price of a new home put on the market fell to £366,999 this month.

The first-buyer sector remains the most affected by falling demand and uncertainty ahead of Thursday’s budget.

There were also signs that owners with properties on the market are willing to lower sales prices.

Rightmove’s Tim Bannister said ex-Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-Budget had “precipitated the slowdown in market activity…we are now in another state of uncertainty as we wait for any surprises or help in Jeremy Hunt’s autumn statement ‘.

The share of unsold properties that have seen a price cut has increased slightly from the pre-pandemic 7.5 percent in October 2019 to 8 percent in October this year.

However, it has doubled from the 4% figure in the more active housing market of October 2021, Rightmove said.

Mr Bannister said: ‘The starter sector saw the biggest increase in activity during the market frenzy of the last two years, but is now facing its greatest challenges following the sudden rise in mortgage interest rates, although there have been signs in the past few weeks that prices and availability are starting to stabilize.”

The decline in buyer demand from last year’s strong market is highest in the typical starter sector, with demand down 26 percent year-on-year but still up 7 percent in 2019. percent increased.’

He added: “The frenzied market of the past two years has turned more abruptly and less smoothly into a more normal market than we expected.

“While many are in the process of moving, especially those with a pre-agreed purchase, there are understandably those who take a moment to think.”

Rightmove’s figures were released when property and lettings broker Hamptons said the average rent of a newly let home in Britain rose to £1,204 a month in October, breaking the £1,200 mark for the first time.

Average monthly rents initially passed the £1,000 milestone in June 2019, before dropping during the coronavirus pandemic and passing that mark again in August 2020, Hamptons said.

In London, average rents went above £2,100 a month for the first time in October 2022, driven by central London prices, it added.