London leads sharp August drop in UK home prices

[LONDON] Asking prices for houses in Britain have fallen at the sharpest pace on record for the month of August, led by a drop in London, as the market gets ready for higher interest rates, a survey showed yesterday.

Prices of property coming onto the market fell by 2.9 per cent from July, leading to a slowing in the annual rate of price growth to 5.3 per cent in August from 6.5 per cent a month earlier, property website Rightmove said.

Asking prices in London fell for a third month, dropping nearly 6 per cent between July and August, much more than the typical fall in what is usually the quietest month of the summer for the housing market.