UK House Prices Fall 1.6% in November

The latest report on UK house prices, published by Rightmove – leading British property website, suggests that property asking prices fell by 1.6% in November, leaving an average British house priced at £226,440.
According to the estimates of Rightmove Plc, house prices in the UK fell by 1.6% from their level in October 2009, and by 6.6% from their peak in May 2008. Experts believe that the decline can be explained by the end of the year and coming Christmas holidays.
Mr. Miles Shipside, commercial director of Rightmove Plc, believes that November report for UK house prices clearly shows that, despite a number of significant improvements seen in the past months, the British market is not yet strong enough to stand up to seasonal trends.
Last week, a statement was made by the Bank of England, which also suggested that the recent changes on the British property market should not be referred to as recovery, but rather as “unusual imbalance between supply and demand.”
Coming back to Rightmove’s house price report, it should be noted that the most significant decline in house prices – 4.4% down from October level – was registered in the area of Yorkshire and Humberside, followed by the North West, where a 3.8% fall was recorded.
As for house prices in the capital, they experienced a 3.1% month-on-month fall, followed by a 5.3% decline in Barking and Dagenham.
The only area to show house prices increases in November was Kensington and Chelsea, the luxury part of London. House prices there grew by 3.9%, increasing the price of an average house to £1.97 million. Mr. Shipside, however, believes that this rise in house prices was mainly determined by increased demand from foreign buyers.
Let us remind that in November 2008 house prices in the UK fell by 2.9%, and saw subsequent declines in December 2008 and January 2009.