Homes are still too expensive, even with falling prices

Homes are still too expensive, even with falling prices

8:54 AM, 28th April 2011, About 14 years ago

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Sad House for Sale Many believe property is still priced too high – but only one in four believe prices will fall much in the coming year, a survey claims.

Around 40% of 26,000 people asked about the housing market by web portal Rightmove predict prices will not change much in the next 12 months – and the answer has stayed the same for seven quarters in a row.

More first time buyers complain property costs too much (66%) than other householders (48%) who were asked about property prices in their neighbourhoods.

Regionally, Londoners considered house prices too high (61%), with agreement from those in the South West (53%) and the South East (52%).

Overall, 26% of people expected the housing market to free up with better mortgage availability over the coming months.

Rightmove director Miles Shipside said: “There is a growing sense that many homes coming onto the UK housing market are priced too high and this is borne out by the views expressed in this survey.

“We now have a situation where half of the UK public feel house prices are too high, yet three-quarters of the same public are expecting prices to either stay the same or increase over the next 12 months. This suggests the prospect of a market stand-off and rising unsold stock levels if sellers don’t wise up to the house price views of their target market.”

Earlier research by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors reported estate agents felt sellers were setting unrealistic house prices.

The Association of Residential Letting Agents also claimed more owners of family homes were turning to renting out their properties rather than selling because they did not expect to make enough money from the sale.

Rightmove also issued figures that Estate Agents had more unsold stock now than at any other time in the past four years and that sellers had increased asking prices by 1.7% in April.


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