UK house prices see steepest August drop since 2018

UK house prices listed for sale posted their sharpest August decline since 2018, as sellers reduced prices to attract buyers amid a sluggish housing market.

Data from Rightmove, the UK’s largest property listings platform, showed the average newly listed home price fell by 2% in August to £364,999, a drop of £7,360. This decline is larger than usual for this time of year, according to a report by The Guardian.

As a result, average asking prices are now 1% lower than a year ago, with rising mortgage rates in recent months dampening demand.

In a further blow to sellers, Rightmove cut its 2023 house price forecast to a range between flat growth and a 2% decline, down from a previous forecast of 2% growth. The platform cited geopolitical uncertainty, shifting mortgage trends, and anticipation of the new chancellor’s first budget in October as reasons for the revision.

The data also revealed a widening gap between northern and southern England over the past 12 months, with prices in the north rising 1.5% year-on-year, while those in the south fell 1.8%.

Colin Babcock, a property expert at Rightmove, said, “The larger-than-usual August price drop reflects that more sellers are recognising the realities of the market and are pricing their homes more competitively from the outset.”

She added, “Buyers now have the widest choice available at this time of year in over a decade, making realistic pricing crucial for sellers hoping to secure a buyer and complete a sale.”

London recorded the largest annual fall in house prices, down 3.1%. Some of the wealthiest areas were among the hardest hit, with the average new asking price in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea dropping to £1,552,970 from £1,648,148 a month earlier—a difference of just over £95,000.