Sellers forced to drop asking prices by £7,000
Tuesday, 14 December 2010 4:11 PM
Britain's house sellers are currently slashing their asking prices by almost £7,000 just to secure a sale, new research has claimed.
According to findings from Rightmove, asking prices for residential property in England and Wales fell by three per cent, or £6,969, in November, marking their fifth reduction in six months.
Miles Shipside, director of the website, which claims to advertise 90 per cent of the properties for sale on the UK market, said that many buyers have adopted a "wait and see" approach as uncertainty continues to surround the economy.
"The fact that many would-be buyers do not have the ability to proceed and some homeowners find themselves in a position where they are forced to sell drives prices down," he added.
Shipside went on to say that, in light of the figures, he expects sellers' situations to worsen further in the coming year, as demand remains weak amid rising unemployment and a tough mortgage market.
Rightmove has blamed the UK's falling house prices on a "mortgage drought" arising from potential buyers' difficulty securing affordable home loans.
Last week, the Council of Mortgage Lenders revealed that new mortgage lending had dipped by four per cent in October.
Experts are currently forecasting further asking price reductions next year, with the national average expected to dip by up to five per cent.
The typical home listed on Rightmove now carries a price tag of £222,410, the website revealed.
