Flat house prices forecast for 2010

Property portal Rightmove predicts that the value of UK residential property will remain largely stable this year, with the average home losing any gains made in the first half of 2010 during the remainder of this year.

Rightmove’s latest monthly House Price Index calculates that the average asking price for a property fell by 0.6% between June and July, to stand at £236,332, as the supply of available homes has increased to such a level that it has outstripped demand for the first time in a year.

The website reports that the number of new property sellers currently outpaces mortgage approvals by 5.2%, creating a buyer’s market in which asking prices are likely to be forced down slightly throughout the rest of the year.

It records that new-to-market sellers dropped their asking prices for the first time this year in June, down by 0.6% (£1,435) this month.

Miles Shipside, commercial director of Rightmove, said:

“The number of new mortgages being approved each month is less than half the number of new sellers, with the imbalance being exacerbated by the increase of nearly 50% in the number of properties coming to market compared to a year ago.

“More aggressive pricing is now the order of the day, which means that conditions are ripe for a strong buyers’ market in the second half of 2010.

“This is likely to see the average price gains of 7% for the first half of the year wiped out by year-end, in line with Rightmove’s original forecast for the year of no net change in house prices”.

Rightmove’s annual forecast in roughly in line with well-regarded house price index compilers and mortgage lenders Halifax and Nationwide both of which foresee little annual change in typical property values.