Region bucks the trend and sees house prices rise

Overall, house asking prices in England and Wales have fallen for the second month running and are now lower than a year ago.

The average asking price for a home dropped 2.1 per cent in August to £231,543, according to property website Rightmove – a fall that follows a drop of 1.6 per cent in July.

The only regions that saw a slight rise in house prices were Yorkshire and the Humber, and Wales. Overall, asking prices are now 0.3 per cent lower than a year ago.

Rightmove director Miles Shipside said that in many parts of the country activity is limited to “sellers who are willing to price aggressively below the competition and who can afford to do deals”.

But he added that the fact prices are only 4.1 per cent lower than four years ago, when Northern Rock collapsed, underlines the market’s stability.

Mr Shipside also said the renewed turmoil in global financial markets may be starting to hit home with London buyers, who have so far been insulated from the worst of the economic downturn.

He said: “The London housing market has done an about-turn over the summer, with prices that had been advancing steadily and setting new records now falling back more sharply than in the rest of the country.”