Asking prices rise 1.0% to £371,015 in October but are flat on a year ago as the average two-year fix climbs to 5.55%, Rightmove finds

Rightmove's House Price Index, published on 19 October, puts the average asking price of a newly listed home at £371,015, up 1.0% on the month but 0.1% lower than a year ago. Its tracker shows the average two-year fixed rate at 5.55%, up from 5.29% last month and 4.25% in February, adding around £250 a month to a typical new mortgage, and new sellers in four of the five lowest-priced parts of Great Britain have now cut asking prices, including falls of 2.0% in the North East and 1.9% in Scotland. For sellers, with the number of homes for sale at its highest for the time of year since 2014 and new buyer enquiries down 9%, the message is to price competitively from the first day of marketing; for buyers, that choice gives some room to negotiate, even as borrowing costs stretch budgets. The national rise is lifted by a 2.5% jump in London, which Rightmove reads as a seasonal recovery after a 6% fall over the summer rather than a broader rebound, and sales agreed remain 8% below last year.