Realistically priced houses "are selling"

The London housing market could be helped by realistic house prices, according to the latest Haart London Index.

In October, the average London house price decreased by 0.9 per cent to £245,036 and house prices in the area are on target to fall by 17 per cent by year-end.

Haart suggests that the "positive effects" of the bank bail out plan coupled with the base rate cut have been "lessened" by speculation regarding an official recession and restrictions on mortgage lending.

"However, the lower end of the market has felt less of the impacts of the more recent financial volatility and sensibly priced properties are selling," the company countered.

Sensibly priced plots and homes are still selling and anybody considering a self build could capitalise on vendors adjusting their price expectations "in line with the market".

Recent research from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has found that the average property is selling for around nine per cent below the asking price.