Average new seller asking prices fell by 1.9% (-£6,966) this month to £355,177, according to Rightmove.

The firm says that sellers who come to market in December often have a pressing reason to sell and need to find a buyer quickly, and therefore price more attractively to capture the attention of festivity-distracted buyers. However, this is a slightly bigger December drop in newly marketed property prices than usual, with the December average reduction over the last 20 years being -1.5%.

This fall is partly driven by more new sellers looking to price below the competition now that the pendulum has swung towards a buyers’ market. This month’s drop means that we end the year with national average asking prices 1.1% below this time last year, says Rightmove.

Higher mortgage rates have been a key challenge for movers this year, and affordability remains stretched. However, with improved market stability as we head into 2024, there are signs of greater activity from family movers who had put their plans on hold during the fallout from the mini-Budget.

Tim Bannister at Rightmove says: “Further price falls beyond the usual seasonal trends that we’d expect at this time of year signal that some new sellers are continuing to act on the advice of agents to price competitively. We entered this year under a cloud of uncertainty, as the fallout from the Autumn mini-Budget filtered through to lower activity levels. High mortgage rates, which have added to already-stretched buyer affordability, have been a challenge throughout 2023 and this is likely to carry into next year. However, for now there appears to be more calm and certainty heading into 2024, and the annual fall of 1.1% in asking prices highlights the market’s much-better-than-predicted resilience this year.”