LONDON, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- The average house price in Britain is expected to increase by 2 percent in 2020, according to Rightmove, a Britain-based property company.
According to the firm, the average asking price for a house in December across Britain was 300,025 British pounds (about 400,050 U.S. dollars), 0.9 percent lower than the previous month.
The company said that home-mover confidence and activity have been "dogged" by political uncertainty since the 2016 Brexit referendum.
"With a clear majority in the election, there is now an opportunity to release some of the pent-up demand in the spring, and for some modest upwards price movement," said the company.
Rightmove said that "our prediction of a two percent price rise in 2020 is more than twice the current annual rate of 0.8 percent, it's still a relatively marginal increase as it's a price-sensitive market."
Miles Shipside, housing market analyst at Rightmove, said that "The greater certainty afforded by a majority government gives an opportunity for a more active spring moving season, with some release of several years of pent-up demand.
"With much of the political uncertainty removed, we expect that the number of properties for sale will recover as more new sellers come to market, making up some of this year's lost ground," said Shipside, adding that "however, property supply is still limited, with estate agents having the lowest proportion of properties available for sale in two years, and this will fuel modest gains in the national average asking price of property coming to market."
"There will be regional variations. London is finally showing tentative signs of bottoming out," said Shipside. (1 British pound = 1.33 U.S. dollar)
