Properties asking prices rise 9.3% to set another new record – as Rightmove revises 2022 forecasts amid home shortages
- Average asking prices rose 9.3% to £369,968 in July, down from 9.7% in June.
- Prices have now risen to a record high for six consecutive months
- Rightmove has revised its forecast for 2022, forecasting growth of 7% instead of 5%.
- This is still a slowdown from the current level of house price inflation
Asking price real estate prices rose to another record high this month, according to Rightmove, as buyer demand continues to outpace the supply of homes for sale.
The average asking price for a property in the UK rose 9.3 per cent to £369,968 in the year to July, the sixth consecutive month of a record high.
The pace of growth slowed slightly from June’s 9.7 percent growth, but the property website has revised its forecast for this year as it believes supply will continue to struggle to meet strong demand.
The Rightmove map shows how different regional markets see asking prices changing
It now expects asking prices to rise 7 percent in 2022, up from a previous forecast of 5 percent.
This contrasts with recent forecasts by Capital Economics, which said house prices in Britain could fall by up to 10 per cent “soon” as rising interest rates cause property markets around the world to collapse.
Rightmove said the number of new sellers coming onto the market is up 13 percent from this time last year, but homes available to buy are still down 40 percent from June 2019 levels. This is expected to continue to drive prices higher.
Demand from potential buyers is also a quarter higher than it was in June 2019, according to the real estate portal, although it is starting to boil over from last year’s overheated market, which was down 7 percent.
Tim Bannister, director of property science at Rightmove, said: ‘With such an imbalance between supply and demand remaining, prices appear to be supported, and therefore we only expect smaller typical seasonal declines month-on-month, rather than the more significant price declines in the second half of the year.
This led to a revision of our year-end annual price growth forecast from 5 percent to 7 percent, although this is still a slowdown from the 9.3 percent we saw this month.
Rightmove expects home prices to rise 7% this year, up from a previous forecast of 5%.
Rightmove said prices have now jumped to a record high for six straight months
The data mirrors recent findings from the RICS, which said housing shortages continue to drive higher home prices despite falling demand.
However, real estate agents have also noticed a decrease in interest from buyers, which translates to a decrease in sales.
Southwest, Yorkshire and Humber top tables
Looking at regional trends, Rightmove said South West, Yorkshire and the Humber saw the fastest pace of annual growth, with average asking prices rising by 12.2 per cent and 12.1 per cent respectively.
However, on a monthly basis, prices were down 0.6 percent in the South West, while they continued to rise in Yorkshire on a monthly basis, adding another 1 percent.
Ben Hudson, managing director of Hudson Moody York estate agents, said they were not surprised by the strong growth in York, where prices have risen 11.6 per cent.
“The shift since Covid to allowing home working has meant that a steady stream of buyers from London have moved to York because of its connection,” he said.
“Yorkshire is still much cheaper than the South East and that drives up prices.”
London saw the slowest annual price growth of 7.4 percent, with prices accelerating by 1.6 percent from the previous month.
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