"Buyers and lenders alike are adjusting to a new kind of normal in the U.K. housing market"
- Building Societies Association's head of mortgage policy, Paul Broadhead
Home sellers in London and other U.K. cities cut their asking prices by the most this month in five years, due to the inflow of supply and seasonal factors, which had a negative effect on the pricing power. The property website Rightmove Plc (RMV) said on Monday, that asking prices tumbled 4% compared to the previous month to an average 464,398 pounds ($752,000). At the same time, median prices in England and Wales dropped 3.3%, the most since January 2002. The deterioration in data is adding to concern that nation's property market is struggling to gain momentum.
"Buyers and lenders alike are adjusting to a new kind of normal in the U.K. housing market," the Building Societies Association's head of mortgage policy, Paul Broadhead, said in the statement. "The headwinds generated by a weak economic environment mean that it is here to stay right now."
Also Monday, the report from the Building Societies Association showed that one in four prospective first-time buyers believe that it will take them at least 10 years to have a deposit in place. Despite the 34% rise in lending in the mutual sector, there are still more pessimists than optimists.
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