Asking Prices Down 5.4% Over Last 5 Years

Press release: 12 November 2009

Newly released data from Home.co.uk shows that the average asking price for UK property has fallen by 5.4% over the last five years, suggesting the property markets' troubles started long before the credit crunch.

According to these new long-term figures from Home.co.uk, the only house price information source to publish data on the entire market, the average marketing price is now well below the tremendous sums being asked in 2004. The loose credit fuelled rally in 2007 was cut short by the banking crisis and since then prices have slumped to 2006 levels (see graph).

The mix-adjusted average UK property price was £241,569 in November 2004 in a hugely over-heated market. Now sellers are typically asking for a £228,442 for the same property in a comparatively icy market, 5.4% less than 5 years ago. When adjusted for inflation (RPI ex-housing) the loss in real-terms is in the region of 17%.

These startling figures clearly indicate that property has been a dismal investment for some time.

Hard to Sell

Home.co.uk also released further figures in their November Asking Price Index report showing that the average time-on-market for property for sale is currently 209 days. However, by way of contrast, in November 2004 the typical property was only on the market for just 73 days!

The Time on Market figures are produced from monthly surveys of around 20 million recorded entries in the Home.co.uk Property Search Archive covering around 700,000 properties for sale each month.

Medians prices and average time on market figures for all UK postcodes and towns, calculated daily, can be found at https://www.home.co.uk/guides/house_prices_by_town.htm

Notes for Editors

Over the last 28 years, Home.co.uk has become established as a dynamic, innovative and ethical service. By providing the UK's most comprehensive Property Search and Estate Agents directory coupled with detailed House Price analysis, Home.co.uk delivers the real power of the Internet to inform and empower estate agents, homebuyers, renters, landlords and sellers in across the UK.