Rightmove: House prices up for second month

House prices in England and Wales rose for the second successive month, figures out today from online estate agent Rightmove reveal.

The average asking price in November rose by 0.8 per cent to £197,855, the company finds.

Rightmove's survey looked at the asking prices of over 130,000 properties - more than half the properties on the UK market.

It finds that annual house price growth also increased, from 1.5 per cent last month to four per cent in November.

"The property market’s key foundation has returned: confidence is back leaving pessimists out in the cold. The combination of sustainable prices and a fall in interest rates has raised buyers’ and sellers’ confidence to strike a deal," said Rightmove commercial director Miles Shipside.

The average price of newly marketed properties is now at levels not seen for seven months, with prices holding broadly steady over that period.

Since then, there has been increased buyer demand but without a rapid fall in house prices.

The amount of time properties spend on the market has also dropped - from 81 to 79 days.

"This is not a return to a boom market, but the arrival of the long-awaited ‘soft landing’. It is also a reflection of the unseasonably high sales reported by estate agents during the summer months working through to completion," Rightmove said in a statement.

But despite the revival, unrealistically priced properties are still not selling.

Mr Shipside concluded: "There are still some properties where price expectations are too high to benefit fully from the improving buyer sentiment. Over-valuing will still back-fire."