Asking prices for British homes coming to market have remained firm this month, adding to signs of a recent cooling in the housing market recovery, according to a survey conducted by the website Rightmove on Monday.
The firm said the average asking price was £375,110 ($475,827) for properties listed for sale between May 12 and June 8, down £21 from the previous month and a statistically flat reading .
Rightmove data, which is not seasonally adjusted, typically rises in the June period, although last year the month’s reading was also flat.
Other property market indicators showed slowing momentum, linked to the diminishing prospect of an imminent Bank of England interest rate cut.
Stronger-than-expected inflation data last month in Britain and the United States prompted investors to postpone their bets on the start date of the BoE’s rate cuts in 2024. Earlier, the BoE meeting on 20 June had been considered as a distinct possibility.
Economists and investors believe the BoE will leave interest rates on hold this Thursday.
Rightmove said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s announcement of a national election on July 4 last month was unlikely to lead to a major change in market conditions.
“However, it appears that some potential sellers are watching and waiting rather than acting, as evidenced by the decline in the number of new sellers coming to the market, particularly at the high end,” said Tim Bannister, director of property science at Rightmove.
Affordability is a hot political topic ahead of the election, with house prices up by around a fifth since the last election in December 2019.
Both Sunak’s Conservative Party and the opposition Labor Party, which is well ahead in the polls, have said they will increase house building if elected.
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