London house prices fall 5.3% in a month

Londoners selling their homes have cut thousands of pounds off their asking prices as the downturn finally arrived in the capital.

Asking prices in London fell 5.3% in August, according to the Rightmove house price survey - equivalent to a £21,000 drop in a single month. Prices in some of the most sought-after suburbs are falling much lower. The average asking price in Wandsworth fell from £522,000 to £481,000 in a single month - or 7.9%. Homes in Brent, Kingston-upon-Thames, Richmond-upon-Thames and Greenwich were down more than 6.5%. Nationwide, asking prices tumbled by a record 2.3% in August. The property website said the decline took the average asking price to £229,816 in August, from £235,219 in July, the biggest fall on record for this month. Over the year prices are down 4.8%.

This drop in value is down to the lack of mortgages available on the market and the increasing number of unsold houses, according to the report.