LONDON (Reuters) -Asking prices for British homes barely rose in what is usually a busy autumn sales period, according to a survey published on Monday that added to signs of uncertainty in the housing market ahead of finance minister Rachel Reeves’ budget in November.
Average asking prices rose by 0.3% in the four weeks to October 11, well below a long-run average of 1.1% for the time of year, property website Rightmove said.
House prices in Britain typically pick in the autumn before a Christmas lull.
Compared with a year earlier, asking prices were down by 0.1%.
“Despite the overall resilience of the 2025 housing market, we’ve not got enough pent-up momentum or recent positive sentiment to spur the usual autumn bounce in property prices,” Colleen Babcock, property expert at Rightmove, said.
“Speculation that the budget may increase the cost of buying or owning a property at the higher end of the market has given some movers, particularly in the south of England, a reason to wait and see what’s announced in the budget.”
Reeves is trying to chart a way between raising taxes and boosting growth in her annual budget on November 26.
Rightmove said moving activity dipped in September compared with a year earlier, reflecting higher buyer sentiment in 2024 after the Bank of England began to cut interest rates and before the end of temporary stamp duty tax cuts in April.
Other indicators have also shown a slowdown in house prices. Britain’s biggest mortgage lender Halifax earlier this month reported a 1.3% annual increase in prices in September, the weakest rise since April 2024.
(Reporting by Suban AbdullaEditing by William Schomberg)
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