Spring sees slight bounce in house prices

The latest report from property website Right Move suggests that UK house prices are finding their feet, with new sellers raising their average asking price by 1.8% (£3,996) to £222,077.

This rise is the largest for 14 months and represents the third consecutive month of recorded growth, suggesting that the housing market may be in the early stages of recovery. However, the report stresses that first time sellers may still be listing their properties too high, with approximately 80,000 sellers reducing their asking prices by at least 2% each month.

The report also acknowledges that the housing market has a long road to recovery, with mortgage approvals currently running at a third of recent levels. However, the average length of time a property stays on the market has fallen from 81 to 77 days and the number of new sellers joining the market is up 13% compared with last month.

Miles Shipside, commercial director of Rightmove said:

“My view is that many sellers are still starting too high, but the fact that they are coming to market in greater numbers and feel they can ask more shows a strengthening in resolve and confidence, which is an encouraging sign. It looks like we are now bumping along the bottom of the trough, but for there to be any real sense of optimism that we’re on a sustainable road to recovery, the availability of mortgage finance needs to improve significantly, given that mortgage activity is currently running at around a third of its average levels between 2002 and 2007. Thankfully mortgage lenders are finally starting to release more funds to finance new house purchases.”

The Right Move House Price Index report is based on 111,307 properties advertised on Rightmove.co.uk between 8th March 2009 and 11th April 2009. This represents approximately 90% of the UK housing market.