UK house prices declined at the fastest pace for the month of August since 2018, while year-on-year, they declined for the first time since prior to the pandemic, according to latest figures from Rightmove.
The online property website said house prices fell 1.9% month-on-month to £364,895 in August, the biggest August price fall since 2018. Prices declined by 0.2% in July from June.
Average asking prices slip back -1.9% on last month & -0.1% on last year according to all-seeing @Rightmove. Average SALE price we were told last week are still rising - just & remain 50% higher than September 2007 & 23% higher than Jan 2020 pic.twitter.com/DIQdvuJIOB
— Henry Pryor (@HenryPryor) August 21, 2023
Potential buyers were "preoccupied by holidays, inflation, and the highest base rate since 2008", Rightmove said.
While there is traditionally a summer slump in asking prices, it is steeper than the average 0.9% drop in August, and marks the fastest monthly decline since summer 2018.
"These lower asking prices, combined with increasing average earnings and the apparent downward trend of mortgage rates are tentative steps towards improved buyer affordability, although average prices are still £59,000 (19%) higher than in the pre-pandemic market of August 2019," Rightmove added.