Fears of double dip grow as prices fall for a third consecutive month

House prices in the UK fell by 1.1% this month according to Rightmove, the third consecutive monthly fall adding to fears that the housing market is heading for a double dip.

Prices have now fallen by 3.4% in the last three months, half way towards wiping out the gains made in the first six months of the year.

Miles Shipside, director of Rightmove, said: “The ‘double-dippers’ will be able to point to a clear downward trend, with new sellers dropping their asking prices for three months on the bounce. They can cite tough competition amongst sellers and agents struggling to find proceedable buyers for their record levels of unsold stock”.

However, he added that the latest survey has recorded the lowest weekly run-rate of fresh sellers since April, giving some ammunition to those forecasting a flatter price trajectory as it could be an early sign of fresh supply beginning to wane.

September’s fall of 1.1%, following on from the drops of 0.6% and 1.7% recorded in July and August, means that new sellers are asking £8,016 less than those that came to market in June.

Nearly half the 7% gains in asking prices seen in the first half of 2010 have been wiped out by recent falls and, with the less active months of November and December ahead, national average asking prices are on course to end the year where they started.

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