Overall, asking prices dropped by 0.6 per cent or just over £2,000 between November and December. Scotland recorded the largest drop of 2.1 per cent while the East of England saw the smallest decline of just 0.1 per cent. The small reduction in for-sale prices follows a 0.5 per cent drop in the previous month.
For the year, Rightmove reported a rise of 6.6 per cent in asking prices up by £19,920 to £319,945.
In 2021, the property portal predicts for-sale prices will rise by 4 per cent on average across the country.
Moving services firm Reallymoving, which analyses data from conveyancing instructions, says house prices for agreed sales have also begun to fall which it predicts will be reflected in January and February Land Registry data.
The firm’s analysis points to a price fall of 1.2 per cent in January and 2.5 per cent in February.
The average price paid for a home is set to reach a new of high of £352,239 before falling to £343,312 by February 2021, according to Reallymoving.
Tim Bannister, Rightmove’s director of property data, said: “Our 2021 forecast of a 4 per cent price rise is more conservative than the unsustainable 6.6 per cent national average seen this year.
“There’s likely to be a lull in quarter two unless the stamp duty holiday is extended, but for many buyers its removal will not be make or break, though may lead them to reduce their offers to a degree to compensate for the higher tax, and indeed many sellers may be prepared to help to mitigate their buyer’s financial loss. First-time buyers will remain largely exempt, so in most cases will be no worse off.”
Around 130,000 sales were agreed over the last month, up by a 44 per cent on the same period in 2019.
A month ago Rightmove noted there were 650,000 sales agreed and in the pipeline. One month on, and a month closer to the stamp duty holiday deadline of 31 March, the figure remains at around 650,000 because 130,000 additional sales have joined the processing logjam. Some completions are already projected to be delayed until April next year where there are search delays, legal issues or complex mortgage applications.
