By Suban Abdulla
LONDON (Reuters) – Average asking prices for newly listed houses and apartments in Britain fell by 1.7% in December, but activity was robust for the time of year as movers aimed to complete sales before property purchase taxes rise in April, property website Rightmove said on Monday.
Rightmove’s data is not seasonally adjusted and the drop in asking prices – which followed a 1.4% fall in November – was in line with the historic average decline for the end of the year, the company said.
Compared with a year earlier, asking prices were 1.4% higher. Rightmove’s December period ran from Nov. 10 to Dec. 7.
The number of agreed sales was 22% higher than a year earlier, while new buyer demand increased 13%.
Seasonally adjusted data from mortgage lenders Nationwide and Halifax for November showed monthly price rises and the fastest annual increases in two years.
Tim Bannister, Rightmove’s director of property science, said there was uncertainty about how exactly the increase in stamp duty tax would impact activity next year.
“The stamp duty changes are a cloud over the market at the moment, with some groups much more impacted than others, and therefore keen to avoid the additional charges,” he said.
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From April first-time buyers in England will pay stamp duty on property costing 300,000 pounds ($380,000), rather than 425,000 pounds, other buyers will have to pay tax from 125,000 pounds and a tax surcharge for second homes will also increase.
“A Bank Rate cut and some mortgage rate falls early on in the year would help to settle the market and provide a boost to sentiment and consumer confidence,” Bannister said.
The Bank of England is expected to hold interest rates at 4.75% on Thursday and has said future rate cuts were likely to be gradual. Investors on Friday were pricing in three quarter-point rate cuts by the BoE next year.
Last week, Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour government, which came to power in July, announced an overhaul of the planning system to speed up housebuilding and boost economic growth.
($1 = 0.7905 pounds)
(Reporting by Suban Abdulla; editing by David Milliken)
