UK property asking prices cut by £5,000 in a month with London and South East falling most

Political uncertainty helped fuel the drop, says Rightmove

Former hotspots Rickmansworth, Esher and Gerrards Cross are among the biggest fallers

(Reuters)

Property asking prices have fallen by more than £5,000 over the last month, the largest November drop since 2012, data has revealed.

The fall was down to pre-Christmas “buyer humbug” syndrome, according to property website Rightmove, which compiled the figures.

Declines were registered in all regions, with higher-value areas such as London and commuter towns in the South East of England falling the most.

“Higher-end, former hotspot towns are now among the biggest annual fallers,” said Miles Shipside of Rightmove. For example, Rickmansworth in Hertfordshire has seen prices fall by 7.1 per cent and Esher in Surrey has seen a drop of 6.4 per cent. Mr Shipside said these were now “cold spots” following price rises of nearly 40 per cent over the last seven years.

London commuter towns have seen 40 per cent growth in average property asking prices since 2011, helped by a “ripple effect” out from the capital – which has now gone into reverse.

The average price of a property coming to market fell by 1.7 per cent (£5,022) over the month.

Rightmove said it was normal for prices to drop in November but that political uncertainty had helped fuel a bigger fall this year than in previous years.

“New sellers and their agents are reacting to market forces and lowering their pricing aspirations by more and sooner than usual,” Mr Shipside said.

Separate figures from Zoopla last month showed that the asking price of almost two in five properties has been reduced by an average of more than £26,000.

Sellers have cut the price of 37.9 per cent of homes on the market, up from 32.4 per cent in April, property website Zoopla said.

The figures highlighted big differences in the housing market across different regions with Manchester and Glasgow performing well while London lags behind.