Average new seller asking prices on UK homes fell for the first time this year, suggesting buyer affordability constraints and pricing realism is now in play.
Prices between 14 May to 10 June fell by £82 on average to £372,812, according to Rightmove’s house price index.
This is below the 10-year average for June, where prices have generally risen by 0.6%.
“Average new seller asking prices, the first and leading indicator of new trends in the market, have dropped slightly this month, signalling that the belated spring price bounce has quickly turned into an earlier than usual summer slowdown,” said Tim Bannister, director of property science at Rightmove.
Additionally, more than half of properties are taking longer to attract an offer, according to data from the online property market OnTheMarket.
Houses taking longer than 30 days to receive an offer jumped to 58% from 39% last month.
Much of this can be attributed to a significant increase in fixed mortgage interest rates over the last few weeks, leaving buyers in the dark about how much they will be paying.
The average for a two-year fix is today expected to cross 6% after hitting 5.98% on Friday, according to Moneyfacts.
Rates are set to climb even higher, with the Bank of England expected to raise its base rate to 4.75% this week. Financial markets predict it could climb as high as 6%.