Charlie
We also sold to relocate in Oct 07 and are renting. Problem is the villiage we live in is "desirable" and the vendors are just not putting asking prices down. Some properties have been on for over 8 months and haven't dropped their asking prices at all! Will they eventually get real??

Gill, Leeds,

There's a lot of talk of auctions taking sales at 50% of the value on here. There is a reason for that. You need finance in place before you go to an auction so you can commit on the day. Finance is barely available at the moment and only an idiot would commit at an auction without this in place.

Matt , Leeds,

Supply and demand will determine UK property prices. Fact - there are no lack of "buyers" out there. What is temporarily lacking is the money from lenders to fund the purchase at sensible rates and the confidence that prices have bottomed out. Buyers WILL return once rates have dropped.

Tina, Farnham Common,

David from Bristol UK, sound like you live in a council flat.
Michael, Bishops Stortford, England, sound like he could not sleep anymore and worried about his unsecured job.
Don't worry about House Prices boys, get a place that you can call your very own, and be proud of it.

Smith, london,

No matter how hard the price of a house would fall, those wishful thinking would still be wishing to have a house after 10 years from now. It is not the cost of the house thats matter but your capability to raise the finance is the most important.

Ferdi, Tokyo, Japan

After such a massive bubble the blow out will be similarly huge. For those clinging on to the spin from the property experts - wake up! But there is a real negative - this will not pass without recession. Time to hold on tight.

George, London,

We sold dec 07 @ top of market to re-locate unaware of what was to come. Now have good amount towards next property but only people who have to sell are putting property on market so have not found what want or the ones we like are too much with sellers still expecting to get last years prices.

charlie, durham, uk

Peter's advice to just 'sit tight' is all very well, but hasn't he heard that the cost of living is rising, as is unemployment. At the point where a house simply becomes unnafordable is when it's no longer possible to sit tight. That's when you're forced to sell, and that's when the price will fall.

Terry Mann, Madrid,

The June Halifax figures had the average house price at £180,344. Rightmove tells us the average June asking price is £235,219.

I suppose we'll all have to offer 20-25% below asking price then.

DJM, Norbiton, UK

Fabio C, looks as if you will be renting for the rest of your life then. Never mind you can save up and buy a dictionary instead ;)

Bob, Stevenage - there are NO unbiased reports on the housing market (and there are just as many vested interests trying to talk the market down).

phil, london,

I live in Cheltenham, and in my postcode houses have dropped around 12-25% over the last 10 months. We are talking about £30,000- £60,000 not £4000. One house was on the market for only 33 days before they dropped it £23,000, Whats that say?

Rups, Cheltenham,

£35k?! We have just accepted an offer on our house that is £103k (13%) less than our neighbours (identical house) got a year ago! And even then I am worried our buyers will get cold feet.

We held out for 7 months, hoping to get more but we way the market is we are just not going to.

Gillian, London, UK

In Greenwich Millennium Village which is being developed by a joint partnership of Counrtyside Properties and taylor Wimpey are not progressing with the next phases of building the Millennium village, including 594 homes,light industrial,commercial,community centre and nursery which GMVL confirmed.

Damien Vaugh , Greenwich Millennium Village, UK

If rightmove are saying even their fantasy asking prices are dropping then the housing market really is in trouble.

Sorry that should be a capital.... Trouble!

Fred, Moray, Scotland

It is difficult to value a home. To come down to basics, if perhaps you calculate the cost of land and the cost of building, then you could say that any surplus in the asking price is a 'bubble' Which can only represent the demand element. There are still some big bubbles out there !!!

David Nammory, Liverpool,

Yes, and 3 months ago economic fundamentals meant prices could not fall at all:) This is all happening before people move onto SVRs (or just have) and the economy enters recession.

Mark..wow..confusing wealth with debt:) Well done. Even if you bought 10 years ago the next house has also gone up.

Trevor, South east,

Stuart from London makes no sense. If most potential sellers will 'ride it out' rather than sell at a loss then the sales that *do* occur will have to be heavily discounted - buyers simply can't get the money to buy at current prices. Stuart sounds like an EA to me!

David, Bristol, UK

I keep reading Graine Gilmore 20%,30% crash reports for house prices. I have been waiting to buy because of it. The problem is that houses in Surrey are not going down yet. 3 houses that I have being hoping to come down in price have gone under offer. What shall I do?

Susan, London,

Perhaps had we thrown away the Monopoly in the seventies rather than the Meccano, we wouldn't be in such a pickle. How anyone, let alone the banks can fail to see that this was a pyramid selling scheme aided and abetted by fruad and a media frenzy (property porn) is beyond me .

John P-T, Reigate,

Ok Michael 50%+ drop. Even though the economy is in a far better state than the early 90's. I have no doubt the market is down but please realise this is a glitch, not a crash. Once we get through the next 12 month struggle, lack of spending with sort out inflation, then a nice steady upward curve!

David, London, UK

why aren't people worry when they buy a car and the value decreases after few days? a house is a good to consume so don't worry too much. But you should be scared of the debts you have!

francesco , london, uk

Stuart London. Many home owners will not be able to 'ride it out' if they have to seek a new deal having fallen into negative equity. Remember, many buyers have borrowed up to 125% of a house value, I have friends who are actually in this position. Prices could fall as much as 40%!

sophie smith, london, uk

Stuart,

you are living in a dream world. House Prices have already fallen 10% mainstream and 50%+ in property auctions. the UK will have mass unemployment soon, forced sellers, and one banktrupt company after another. Expect house prices to fall 50-70% in real terms over the next 5 years.

Michael, Bishops Stortford, England

but... its different this time.

isn't it?

Hugh, London,

Good!

J.Jones, Guildford,

Those that think average prices are going to fall by anything more than 10 to 15% are living in a dreamworld! Most potential sellers will simply ride it out until the economic outlook starts to look better rather than sell at a "loss". Only forced sellers at auction will see larger falls.

stuart, london,

House prices in Japan only picked up last year after 16 years of decline, in spite of growing real wages throughout the period. House prices in Germany are still declining after 18 years on the slide. Anyone who thinks that prices in the UK will recover in two or three years is only day dreaming.

Thomas, Osaka, Japan

If I were to sell my mortgage-free house now, the property I'd be buying would have decreased in value at the same rate, so decreased prices won't affect me. But I have no intention of selling until I retire and I will downsize, and hopefully those dratted HIPs will have been made defunct!

Yvonne, Doncaster, UK

You doom and gloom guys love it, in the pathetic hope one day we will all be poor like you. Maybe you should have bought property 10 years ago and then you wouldn't be so bitter.
Shipside, undercut rather than test the market, who puts their house on since HIPS to test the market? utter tosh.

mark, Surbiton, England

This data represents an insignificant number of properties which have found a buyer. More important is that most of properties on EA books are simply not selling. Inevitably this pent up demand to sell will unleash a tidal wave of falling prices. £4000 will seem like the bargain of the century.

David, London, UK

£4000? I know several people who have had to drop their asking price by more than £60k. Approx 30% off. They still haven't sold.

John Smith, London,

Big deal. Housing was increasing by £25k / yr since 2000 - on the back of lax lending and rampant property speculation. We need to see 2002 prices before housing looks at least remotely "affordable" in terms of economic fundamentals. We're talking £100k of speculative fat to lose.

Richard, Guildford, Surrey

Not widely reported in the futures market (spreadfair), the UK average price is expected to fall from £196k in Q4 2007 to £163k by Q4 2008, £140k by Q4 2009 and £136k by Q4 2010.
A 30% fall over 3 years is already priced in !

Barry, UK,

"...population growing, land scarcer, cost of building increasing.. Peter (an Estate Agent), Guildford, Surrey.." ... Dream on Peter, Japan's bubble-induced recession in their housing 'market' is STILL in recession...

Down and out and not likely to rise from the canvas for 10! (YEARS) LOL!

Austin Tassletine, South West , UK

Agree with Rod from Woodstock, we've seen nothing yet. We're just starting on the downside of the largest asset bubble ever... I believe prices will drop 30-40% on average, with some at auction dropping 70%.

Look at the sales figures at auctions. When they are selling it's with heavy discounts.

Gary, Reading,

I'll give James of Sandhurst a source. 'Average' priced flat in Harrogate has dropped from £220,000 to £185,000 and they are still not selling. That's exactly James's £35,000! But the main point is that the figures we are getting from Estate Agents are from sales - 90% of properties are not selling.

eric campbell, harrogate, uk

Rightmove's asking price data is not relevant at the moment. Average asking prices may well be down only £4000 but selling prices actually achieved are down at last twice that.

BS, Willerby, East Yorkshire

This is a major, well-needed correction, no doubt, and one that is likely to continue. I feel for the people who bought into the bubble but anyone with a modicum of sense has long known that UK housing prices were way up there in la-la land. Wonder how THAT happened?

Stephen Miles, Fayetteville, NC, USA

Another report by a company with a vested interest in keeping up the prices.

Lets have some independent reports please, showing the TRUTH out there and not wishful thinking.

Bob Travels, Stevenage,

There is nothing to say house prices will rise again. Look at the history of Japans' market. Twice as densely populated as the UK, and yet down by up to 50% in the last 15 years!!!

darren, chelmsford,

This trend means that trading up has become proportionately less expensive and will continue to do so.

Paul, Coventry,

OK, house prices are falling. However, you only make a "loss" if you have to sell, and for the majority of people, this is not the case. Just sit tight, and in the end house prices will rise again. The population is growing, land is becoming scarcer, and cost of building increasing..

Peter, Guildford, Surrey

4.000 is nothing, I want to see homes costing 60.000 again to believe their is a crises in the housing industry. We need a correction, not a simbolic reduction. We still have a lot of ground to cover.

Fabio C, London, UK

Rod, woodstock you can. IGindex.

Unfortunately, you will not profit from it easily as the mean on IGindex is currently down around 40% - meaning that is the median expected fall. I am bearish on the UK property market, I couldnt expect 50% falls that easily though! (40% sounds realistic to me).

Sam Smith, Southport, UK

Always multiply by 2 if not more what hte headlines say.

Glynn, Kingston,

It's obvious sellers are getting desperate as many are using multiple agencies, and are dropping the price much more than £4000! In Norwich Savills have pages and pages of newly developed flats which are not selling.

sophie smith, london, uk

Th property price correction has only just begun.No-one would buy or sell a property in todays market unless they have to.Why buy now when you can save a years salary or more buy renting?You only pay rent when you live in the house,mortgage interest is for the lifetime of the mortgage.

stephen hulton, eure, france

Oh Andy, if you are going to pluck a pleasing figure out of the air at least be a bit ambitious.

10K less ?? Dream on, more like 35k and probably more...

See how easy it is? What's that? Source? Since when do sources matter.......?

James, Sandhurst, UK

Historically significant housing downturns last 5 to 6 years on average. This one has just begun. I would not touch British property with a 20 foot ticker tape for 2 to 3 years. The real price capitulation is yet to come. Wish I could find a way to sell it short! Buy another 25% or so down

Rod, Woodstock,

4K less ?? Dream on, more like 10k and probably more...

Andy cooper, Oxford, uk