Asking prices for British homes are nearing a record high, says Rightmove

LONDON (Reuters) – Prices of homes sold in Britain are close to record highs after the biggest annual rise in a year, according to an industry survey that suggested housing market momentum from early 2024 continued into April.

Property website Rightmove said on Monday that asking prices for homes rose by 1.7% in the four weeks to April 13 compared to the same period last year.

Prices asked by sellers rose 1.1% month over month, a slowdown from a 1.5% increase in the previous four weeks.

The average asking price for new sellers of 372,324 pounds ($463,320) was just 570 pounds from a record hit in May 2023, Rightmove said.

Other measures of the UK housing market have also seen a recovery in demand and prices, helped by a fall in borrowing costs which surged in 2022 as former Prime Minister Liz Truss’s plans for sweeping tax cuts disrupted financial markets.

Rightmove said the number of new sellers was up 12% on a year earlier and sales were up 13%. Demand was strongest in the higher segment, where asking prices in 2024 have risen the most since 2014 so far.

Demand for homes typically sought by first-time and second-time buyers – who are generally more dependent on their mortgage – increased less, the survey showed.

“Despite current optimism, these are not the conditions to support substantial price growth,” said Tim Bannister, director of real estate at Rightmove.

“Sellers keen to secure their sales will still need to price realistically for their local market and not be overly ambitious.”

($1 = 0.8036 pounds)

(Reporting by William Schomberg; Editing by Suban Abdulla)