Rightmove reports record fall in July UK property prices
Prices for property put on sale during Rightmove's July period - which runs from June 8 to July 12 - were 1.2% lower than for property marketed a month earlier, the biggest June to July drop since the series began in late 2001.
Compared with a year ago, asking prices were 0.1% higher.
"With the number of available homes still at a decade-high level, summer sellers are pricing even more competitively to attract buyer interest," Rightmove said.
British property sales surged earlier this year but then fell sharply after the end of a temporary tax break on many purchases in April.
"Discerning buyers can quickly spot when a home looks over-priced compared to the many others that may be available in their area," Rightmove property expert Colleen Babcock said.
While sales volumes are still running at around 5% above 2024 levels, Rightmove said it was cutting its forecast for price rises over 2025 as a whole to 2% from 4% due to the high level of competition between sellers. Overall, Rightmove expects 1.15 million property sales in 2025.
Prices fell most in inner London, which saw a 2.1% monthly drop, while the biggest rise was in northeast England where there was a 1.2% rise.
Earlier this month Nationwide Building Society, Britain's second-biggest mortgage lender, said its house price index dropped by 0.8% in June, the biggest seasonally adjusted monthly fall since November 2022.
Official data, which is based on completed purchases, showed that house prices in May were 3.9% higher than a year earlier, down sharply from annual growth of 7.0% in March.
Rightmove said smaller price rises, combined with strong pay growth and lower mortgage rates, were making property purchases more affordable. Typical mortgage rates for a two-year fixed period have dropped to 4.53% from 5.34% over the past year, while average wages rose 5.0% in the year to May. (Reporting by David Milliken; editing by Suban Abdulla)
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