LONDON, April 24 (Reuters) - Asking prices for property
being put on sale in Britain over the past month rose less than
normal for the time of year, figures from property website
Rightmove showed on Monday, adding to signs of more subdued
momentum in the property market.
Rightmove said that average asking prices were up by 0.2%
over the month, less than the average 1.2% gain seen at this
time of year. Compared with a year earlier, asking prices were
1.7% higher, down from a 3.0% annual increase a month earlier.
"Agents are reporting that many sellers have transitioned
out of the frenzied multi-bid market mindset of recent years and
understand the new need to tempt spring buyers with a
competitive price," said Rightmove director Tim Bannister.
After an initial slump at the start of the COVID-19
pandemic, house prices surged in Britain and many other Western
countries - bolstered by rock-bottom interest rates, a desire
for more living space during lockdown and, in Britain's case,
tax incentives for house purchases.
That trend went into reverse in Britain in the second half
of last year, as the Bank of England began to raise interest
rates sharply and then prime minister Liz Truss's government
caused temporary turmoil on bond markets, disrupting mortgage
issuance.
Rightmove said transaction volumes were now back to around
the level they were before the start of the pandemic.
The average asking price for a home advertised on Rightmove
between March 12 and April 15 was 366,247 pounds ($455,245) -
below their peak in October last year - although prices for
smaller homes favoured by first-time buyers hit a new record of
224,963 pounds.
The most recent official data, for sales which completed in
February, showed that prices were 5.5% higher than a year
earlier at 288,000 pounds, but around 2% down from their peak in
November 2022.
($1 = 0.8045 pounds)
(Reporting by David Milliken, Editing by Kylie MacLellan)
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