House prices suffer biggest two-month drop since 2012 - Rightmove

House prices declined 1.5% this month compared with a 1.7% drop the month before, marking the biggest fall over two consecutive months in six years as sellers try to attract buyers despite a combination of the Christmas slowdown, stretched affordability and political uncertainty.

On the year, house prices were up 0.7% versus a 0.2% decline in November.

In London, house prices were down 1.1% on the year and 1.8% lower on the month to £602,996. Rightmove noted that the price of properties coming to market usually drops at this time of year, but said this is the smallest pre-Christmas drop in its December report since 2013.

However, with the annual rate remaining in negative territory, new sellers are aware that they still need to price very realistically given current market conditions.

Miles Shipside, Rightmove director and housing market analyst, said: "It’s usual for new-to-the-market sellers to price lower in the run-up to Christmas to tempt distracted buyers, so we should not read too much into the mere fact of two consecutive monthly falls .

"However, these falls have been larger than usual, making this the largest fall over two months for six years, showing that there are more than just seasonal forces at play. With stretched affordability limiting some people's ability to buy for the first time or trade up, a modest lowering of property prices combined with an increase in wage growth could help more of them to move and thus increase transaction numbers."

Mark Hayward, chief executive of NAEA Propertymark, said: "Last month it was clear that uncertainty surrounding Brexit was having an impact on the sector, and this month is no different. We usually see a seasonal slow-down, but it’s unlikely that the time of year is the sole cause of today’s market conditions.

"As we near the end of the year, we’d usually expect potential buyers and sellers to put their plans on hold until early next year, but it’s likely that this year we’ll just see people holding off until there’s some clarity around what the Brexit deal might look like and what it will mean for the economy."