Asking prices fall - but that's in line with the seasonal norm

The typical asking price of a home coming on sale has fallen by 0.9 per cent, equivalent to £2,758 - precisely in line with the summer seasonal norm according to Rightmove.

This drop is very much in line with the average for this time of year, which has been a dip of 1.2 per cent over the seven years since 2010. 

However, the annual rate of house price inflation as measured by asking prices on Rightmove has dropped to 3.1 per cent - a sign of “headwinds” facing the market, says the portal. 

“The heat has come off much of the market. A combination of traditional summertime price blues and the chill of uncertainty in the air has cooled price growth in some parts of the country, and affordability also remains very stretched” says Miles Shipside, Rightmove director and housing market analyst.

“Despite these factors, high demand and limited supply are still driving momentum, especially in the counties in the middle of the country. Here, year-on-year rises at over twice the pace of the national average are widespread, in contrast to southern and northern counties where none have approached these heady heights” he adds.

Of the English counties that are out-performing the 3.1 per cent national average annual rate, over half are in the mid-regions of the country. This is in contrast to only a quarter in the north and just a fifth in the south. 

Of all the counties in England, 22 are seeing more muted price rises of below the national average of 3.1 per cent. Of those above the benchmark, only six are in counties that form part of the northerly regions, and five in southerly regions.

The top eight county hot-spots, with price increases more than double the national average when compared to a year ago, are all in the middle band of the country. 

They are Leicestershire and West Midlands (both +6.9 per cent), Worcestershire and Bedfordshire (both +7.0 per cent), Nottinghamshire (+7.1 per cent), Norfolk (+7.4 per cent), Derbyshire (+7.9 per cent) and Northamptonshire (+9.1 per cent). 

The best performers in the north are Merseyside (+5.6 per cent), East Riding of Yorkshire (+5.4 per cent) and Cheshire (+5.3 per cent), while the south’s less impressive hotspots are Kent (+5.0 per cent), Somerset (+3.8 per cent) and Bristol (+3.6 per cent).