THE PRICE of a house fell by 1.9 per cent in December, according to the latest reading from property portal Rightmove.

On average the cost of a property in the UK is now £355k, which is around £6,000 less than what a typical home cost last month.

Rightmove said that it is not unusual for the value of a property to be cut in December due to seasonal factors, with house prices typically falling by 1.5 per cent during the last month of the year.

But the firm believes that this slightly larger fall is linked to more new sellers looking to "price below the competition" in efforts to shift a sale before the end of the year.

It comes as sellers and buyers alike will be saying goodbye to an incredibly tough year for the UK housing market. A disastrous mini budget conducted by former prime minister Liz Truss crushed hopes for many prospective buyers at the start of the year, with the impact still being felt well into the start of 2023.

After Truss' mini budget last September mortgage rates shot up to 6.65 per cent.

(c) 2023 City A.M., source Newspaper