Rightmove Apr +2.9% MoM +3.4% YoY

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

Miles Shipside, director of Rightmove comments: “From a national perspective, it has taken four years for new sellers to pitch their asking prices above their previous record.

However, this is not a universal signal of a housing market recovery. The richest seams of housing market activity are concentrated around those with access to cash and finance, with a strong bias to the south and London in particular.

Even within the regions however there are micro-market hotspots where demand from those that can buy and the confidence and momentum it engenders are helping to push asking prices to new record highs.

It’s a somewhat perverse state of affairs for many of the mass-market not deemed as mortgage-worthy by the lenders that, at a time when many aspiring buyers are excluded, the national average price of property coming to the market is at an all-time high”

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/news/files/2012/04/april-2012.pdf

Oh...

And before Dev jumps in and says it's asking prices and hence meaningless....

Graham_Devon wrote: »

it IS a good indicator of sentiment.

Generali

While it is pointless to argue with the data, it's hard to see what is pushing prices up. Rightmove isn't that accurate but it does tend to correlate in an okay-ish way with more accurate indices.

Falling demand has acted so far to push down supply IMO. I suppose it is possible that the reduced supply is starting to impact on prices. I have my doubts but as I say, there's no point arguing with the data.

FWIW, prices are still falling in real terms. My guess is that will be lost amongst 10 pages of ad hominem argument and hyperbole.

Enjoy!

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

Generali wrote: »

I suppose it is possible that the reduced supply is starting to impact on prices.

Shipside observes: “Fresh property stock is a bit scarcer this April compared to last, and this is a key factor in providing a price floor for spring prices to springboard from.

This is the strongest price-bounce Rightmove has ever recorded for the first four months of the year.

New sellers are setting asking price records in the fresh-stockstarved London and South West regions, and agents report this is also the case in micro-markets in other regions where a shortage of fresh stock is coinciding with the traditionally more active spring market."

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

Generali wrote: »

FWIW, prices are still falling in real terms.

Yep.

Down 9% since 2007 on this index in "real terms", despite being up in actual cash terms.

Which actually means house prices got more expensive, but the price of everything else got even more expensive than houses.

My guess is that will be lost amongst 10 pages of ad hominem argument and hyperbole.

Sadly, I suspect you're right.

Sibley

It's funny really.
Especially when you think of all the 50% off clubs comments recently.

homelessskilledworker

If this was the LR index giving these numbers I would be really p****d off today as a property bear who also wants price falls.

But it is only Rightmove, and right now we have our usual spring bounce coming up with(in my area anyway) with more sellers than usual wanting to get out.

These prices are just from deluded sellers that still think we are back in 2007, but you guys that post all day can continue to convince us all that it is something else:)

I am off to work

DpchMd

homelessskilledworker wrote: »

If this was the LR index giving these numbers I would be really p****d off today as a property bear who also wants price falls.

But it is only Rightmove, and right now we have our usual spring bounce coming up with(in my area anyway) with more sellers than usual wanting to get out.

These prices are just from deluded sellers that still think we are back in 2007, but you guys that post all day can continue to convince us all that it is something else:)

I am off to work

It's interesting that you describe yourself as a property bear who ALSO wants property price falls. By definition, to be bearish on something is to believe it's in decline.

There are a handful of people on here who have let their views on the direction of house prices define their character.

Being bullish or bearish on something should be a temporary state based on the state of the market.

You are NOT a property bear. You're a human being who temporarily believes property prices are in decline.

Ah screw it, after writing all of that I realise you probably mean you believe property prices are in decline and you want property prices to decline. Fair enough, but i think the above still applies.

chewmylegoff

So, rightmove has London +15% since 2008 peak (although uses national peak and not local peak for some reason).

Land registry has London at about +1% since peak. LR lags rightmove by several months but I rather doubt it's going to show London up by 15% by August.

I'd be interested to see a real asking price index from rightmove I.e. not just new sellers but all sellers currently listed, as I expect that would correlate more accurately with the real price changes.

Graham_Devon

It is a good indicator of sentiment. But you can't take that in isolation Hamish. It's sentiment in certain parts of the country, as Miles states.

Heres, however, what Hamish has to say on the subject

It is a barometer of direction, but there is no direct correlation between percentage changes on rightmove and actual sold prices.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

Graham_Devon wrote: »

It is a good indicator of sentiment. But you can't take that in isolation Hamish. It's sentiment in certain parts of the country, as Miles states.

Heres, however, what Hamish has to say on the subject

Totally agree.

There is no direct correlation between actual percentage terms changes on Rightmove and sold prices.

It does seem to be mildly useful as an barometer of sentiment or direction, but that's about it.

brit1234

Rightmove prices represent initial asking prices and not actual asking prices. They do not follow the previous properties asking prices still on the market if they go up or down so are pretty meaningless.

In a minute Hamish will state these asking prices are only 8% above selling prices rubbish again.