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London Asking Prices Drop Further as BOE Prepares to Meet

London Asking Prices Drop Further as BOE Prepares to Meet

(Bloomberg) -- House prices in London continued to drop this month, though the downturn is showing some signs of leveling off, according to Rightmove.

Asking prices in the capital fell 0.4% in June, the property-website operator said in a report Monday. That left the annual drop at 2%, the slowest pace of declines since January.

London Asking Prices Drop Further as BOE Prepares to Meet

The report is the first in a run of economic numbers due this week before Bank of England policy makers announce an interest-rate decision on Thursday. Officials are expected to vote to keep policy unchanged, although they may try to use to the minutes of the meeting to shift market expectations -- which are currently at odds with their outlook.

Inflation data on Wednesday is forecast to show price growth slowed to 2% last month from 2.1%. Figures for retail sales and manufacturing orders are also due.

The Rightmove data add to signs that the housing market -- which has struggled in recent years due to political uncertainty and affordability issues -- has gained some temporary relief from the delay to Brexit. Nationally, prices rose 0.3% in June, pushing the average home value close to a new record.

Still, there remain signs of caution in the market, with new seller supply down by an average of 5% versus the same period in 2018.

In a separate report Monday, the British Chambers of Commerce unveiled a downbeat outlook in its latest economic forecast, predicting growth of 1.3% this year, 1% in 2020 and 1.2% in 2021. The scenario assumes the U.K. avoids a chaotic exit from the European Union.

To contact the reporter on this story: David Goodman in London at dgoodman28@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Gordon at pgordon6@bloomberg.net, Brian Swint, Jill Ward

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