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LONDON, Sept 21 (Reuters) – British property sellers have increased the prices they want for their homes for the first time since May, real estate website Rightmove said on Monday.
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Prices for property put up for sale rose by 0.7% between August 9 and September 12, a slightly bigger monthly increase than average for the time of year and following a drop of 2.0% in the preceding four weeks, it said.
Rightmove also said:
• Asking prices were 0.8% lower than a year earlier, after a 1.0% annual drop in Rightmove’s August report
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• The number of homes available to purchase hit a 12-year high
• The number of buyer enquiries was 9% lower than this time last year
• “September’s above-average price rise is a welcome sign ofconfidence after a particularly subdued summer, but it should be viewed as a modest recovery,” Colleen Babcock, property expert at Rightmove said.
• The average two-year fixed mortgage interest rate rose to 5.29% from 5.09% and there was little prospect of an end to the Iran war which has pushed up borrowing costs.
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(Writing by William Schomberg; editing William James)
Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect.