UK Property Asking Prices Plunge In November-Rightmove

The average price asked by U.K. homeowners seeking to sell their property suffered its biggest monthly fall in almost four years in November, an online estate agency said Monday, as deepening uncertainty about the nation's economic prospects scared off both buyers and sellers.

Rightmove PLC (RMV.LN) said the average asking price for a property in the U.K. fell to GBP232,144 in November from GBP239,672 in October, a decline of 3.1% on the month, as sellers were forced to cut their prices to secure a deal. That's the biggest monthly fall since December 2007, Rightmove said. Average prices were, however, 1.2% higher in November than they were a year earlier. Average prices in London fell just 1.2% on the month.

The estate agency said a traditional slowdown in housing market activity during the winter has started earlier than usual. The number of new sellers coming to the market plunged 13% on the month in November and the number of new properties hitting the market each week is the lowest recorded in November since 2008, when the collapse of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers heralded a global recession.

Rightmove director Miles Shipside said such a shortage would typically help support prices, but uncertainty has hit activity hard. Policy makers in the euro zone are struggling to contain a sovereign debt crisis that has cost leaders in Greece and Italy their jobs, while in the U.K. the Bank of England has slashed its forecasts for growth.

"While most home movers will have seen some foreign prime ministers losing their jobs, they will be much more keenly aware of the unsettled outlook for their own employment," Shipside said. "When you are busy looking over your shoulder, you are unlikely to think it is a good market for selling."

Rightmove said 70% of homeowners it quizzed thought now is a bad time to sell.

Still, the estate agency added buyers with plenty of cash are finding they have a strong hand when negotiating a purchase. Investors seeking to buy homes to rent out should be able to secure bargains, it said.

-By Jason Douglas, Dow Jones Newswires, 44 20 7842 9272;

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