According to property website Rightmove, asking prices for homes in Britain saw a modest increase this month, bouncing back from a significant drop in August. However,

it anticipates that buyer affordability will gradually improve in the coming months as elevated mortgage rates begin to ease.

Rightmove reported that the average asking prices for homes rose by 0.4%, following a sharp 1.9% decline in the preceding month. Nevertheless, this increase falls below the ten-year average of a 0.6% rise typically observed in September.

The British housing market, which experienced a boom during the COVID-19 pandemic, has experienced a slowdown in recent months as the Bank of England seeks to curb high inflation through a series of interest rate hikes.

A notable report from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors last week highlighted a marked contraction in the housing market.

Tim Bannister, the Director of Property Science at Rightmove, attributed the unusually sluggish activity in August to the Bank of England's 14 consecutive interest rate increases.

Bannister anticipates a resurgence in market activity during the autumn as conditions improve. Two-year mortgage rates, which reached a 15-year high earlier this year, have started to cool down but remain higher than historical averages.

Both mortgage lenders, Halifax and Nationwide, reported a decrease in selling prices in August.

Rightmove noted that the number of home sales had declined by 7% compared to 2019, before the pandemic disrupted the market. However, it also pointed out encouraging signs of a potential pickup in activity, with a 12% increase in the number of homes on the market during the first week of September compared to the unusually low weekly average in August.

The report highlighted that the rate of reduction in asking prices and the number of homes marked down in price had reached their highest levels since January 2011.