UK property asking prices rise for first time since May

LONDON: British property sellers have increased the prices they want for their homes for the first time since May, real estate website Rightmove said on Monday.

Prices for property put up for sale rose by 0.7 per cent between Aug 9 and Sept 12, a slightly bigger monthly increase than average for the time of year and following a drop of two per cent in the preceding four weeks, it said.

Rightmove also said:

* Asking ⁠prices were 0.8 per cent lower than a year earlier, after a 1.0 per cent annual drop in Rightmove's August report

* The number of homes available to purchase hit a 12-year high

* The number of buyer enquiries was 9.0 per cent lower than this time last year

* "September's above-average price rise is a welcome sign of confidence after a particularly subdued summer, but it should be viewed as a modest recovery," Colleen Babcock, property expert at Rightmove said.

* The average two-year fixed mortgage interest rate rose to 5.29 per cent from 5.09 per cent and there was little prospect of an end to the Iran war, which has pushed up borrowing costs.