Trouble ahead? House price falls set to spread, website warns

A sales platform that monitors the market is warning that house price falls are likely to spread beyond London and the south east this autumn.

Home says that an increase in homes being put on sale “has led to market saturation in the East of England” with that region set to join London and parts of the south east in negative year-on-year price performance. 

“The same pattern of supply-induced slowdown combined with a pullback in demand is now affecting the East Midlands and the South West, and this is exerting downward pressure on prices” warns the website, which bases its findings on asking price data for homes below £1m.

Home says prices in England and Wales fell overall by 0.3 per cent in July, with the largest falls in London and the south east - both down 0.6 per cent.

It warns that supply changes continue to indicate a worsening market for vendors: the number of homes for sale is up 4.0 per cent year-on-year with the largest surge in the south west - up by no less than 15 per cent over the year. 

The total stock of properties on the market in England and Wales continues to rise - up 10.3 per cent in the past 12 months - and is now at its highest level since November 2014.

Home says typical time on market continues to rise in London (up 10 per cent) and up by 9.0 per cent in the South East - however, alarm bells are ringing in the East of England where time on the market on average is up by a full 14 per cent annually. 

“The fact that London and the South East suffered the largest price falls over the last month serves to show that their woes are far from over. Asking prices in London have been slowly falling for 26 months and, thus far, the only solace is that the latest figures suggest that perhaps supply has stopped rising” says Home.

“Meanwhile, the northern regional property markets continue to perform strongly as does Wales, which is leading the price growth tables ahead of the West Midlands. These regions, several years later in the cycle than London, are still showing significant market activity and low or falling time on market figures.”