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Buyers fail to grab bargains as house prices fallProperty bargains are increasing daily as sellers cut their asking prices in an attempt to make wary buyers commit in a slow summer market – but the mortgage drought and a loss of confidence among buyers means that few are taking advantage. Sellers are asking £5,403 less for their homes than a month ago, with the typical price of a house down, on average, by 2.3 per cent at £229,816, according to a survey on Rightmove, the property search website. In London, where the market has deteriorated sharply, asking prices have dropped by £21,096, or 5.3 per cent, to an average £379,162 in a month. Prices are down 3.8 per cent in the capital over the past year, compared with 4.8 per cent across the UK. Despite such reductions, properties appear to be more difficult to sell, with Rightmoveregistered agents reporting 78 unsold properties on their books, up from 77 last month. Miles Shipside, a director of Rightmove, said: “Buyers are currently benefiting from the best choice in years.” Rightmove blames the mortgage drought for the state of the market, adding that transactions are in danger of dropping to levels last seen in 1959. Despite fears that there could be a surge of properties put on the market as the slumping economy and soaring prices forced more borrowers into difficulties with their mortgages and pushed asking prices even lower, Rightmove says that there is no sign yet of a rush of homes for sale. New listings are 106,000, about 25 per cent lower than typically seen at this time of year. Mr Shipside said: “Those who do not have to sell are holding off.” But there are signs that increasing numbers of households are struggling as rising food, utility and housing bills diminish their spending power. The average family was £13 a week, or £676 a year, worse off in July than it was 12 months ago, new figures from Asda show. Weekly bills for basic items such as food, utilities and housing costs have jumped by nearly £30 a week to £408 over the past 12 months, according to the monthly income survey. This, coupled with a £5 a week increase in tax, more than outweighs a £16 rise in weekly wages over the past year, leaving the average family with just £130 of disposable income, down from £143 last year. This came as Chelsea Building Society said that inflation could rise as high as 6.7 per cent over the next 12 months. Households on the lowest incomes have been the worst affected. Families with an annual income of less than £7,200 spent an average of £7 more than their earnings on essential items, leaving them in the red each week. Chris Tapp, of Credit Action, the debt charity, said: We have seen increasing numbers of people who are turning to pawnbrokers or loan sharks to raise money at the end of the month. Rightmove suggests that there is resilience in the housing markets in areas that will benefit from the extension of the East London Tube line, due to open in 2010, with prices in Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Islington remaining higher than a year ago. Asking prices have risen in the past month in the East Midlands, up 1.6 per cent, but fell sharply in the North West and in East Anglia, down by 3.3 and 3.2 per cent, respectively. The Times Online |
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