Home sellers in the U.K. have been overly ambitious in setting their asking prices in the last month, leading to an excessive supply of unsold homes, according to The Daily Telegraph. On Monday, property website Rightmove warned reported that the 1.7% increase in asking prices for homes in the U.K. during April was “over-optimistic,” and at £235,822 represented a 6% increase from one year earlier. The group’s director, Miles Shipside, said that buyers are “still struggling to raise the necessary finance,” creating the largest stock of unsold homes in four years.
Shipside continued to warn, “With government cuts starting to bite and interest rate rises still expected in the second half of the year, those who are serious about selling should look to price more keenly in the spring selling season.” The group said an average of 28,390 homes were put on the market each week in the four weeks to Apr. 9, which is 9% higher year-over-year and up 28% from the same period in 2009. The report also detailed diverging regional trends, with London and the South East up 2.2% from one year earlier, while in the East and West Midlands, prices were over 4% lower year-over-year.