House prices flat as sellers pause plans until after election

The prices of properties for sale in the UK have remained flat in June with the possibility that some potential sellers may be pausing their plans to assess the results of the General Election in July. 

There was a minimal £21 decline in house prices this month to £375,110 following the average asking price reaching a record high in May, according to Rightmove’s latest house price index. Last month, house prices rose by 1.5%, the largest monthly increase for 10 months. 

In June, price trends differed across the country, with the largest growth being seen in the less expensive, northerly regions. The prices in five of Great Britain’s six cheapest areas reached high records. The only regional price falls observed this month were in the more expensive East of England and London regions. 

Rightmove said most buyers and sellers have proceeded with their plans since the election was called at the end of May. The exception to this was a minor fall in the number of new sellers particularly at the top-end of of the market, with the total amount 3% lower than this time last year compared to being 11% higher in the previous two weeks. 

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Yet the number of agreed sales remained at 6% higher than in June 2023. Buyer demand has also stayed steady and has increased by 5% since last year. House prices in June were 0.6% higher than in the same month last year.

Tim Bannister, director of property science at Rightmove said: “It’s always difficult to predict how home-movers will react to sudden uncertainty, but looking back through our data, we can see that during previous election campaigns, market activity has remained largely steady.

“This election has followed a similar pattern so far, and the responses from our poll of over 14,000 people also supports the data, with the vast majority of respondents saying they will carry on with their home-moving plans.”

Ian Baker, group chief executive officer at Preston Baker in Leeds said: “We saw a small dip last week in listing numbers, but this is easily explained as the traditional dip that we would normally see in the half term week, when more families choose to go away. “Whichever government is chosen, the priority must be increasing the supply of new homes. Investment in the local authority planning system, to speed up applications, is the priority,” he added.