hips make market go pear shapedFears over having to pay for a Home information pack (Hip) led owners of smaller properties to flood the market in November and cause the average asking price to fall by 3.2 per cent on the month.

Rightmove has suggested that the sharp fall – the largest drop for 21 months – was largely artificial, the 'Hip effect' accounting for about a third of the 3.2 per cent figure.

The problem was exacerbated still further in London, with Rightmove reporting that Hips accounted for 2.3 per cent of an overall 6.8 per cent fall.

"New listings are very low at this time of year, so the artificial wave of 'low-end sellers' has really distorted the average prices of new properties coming onto the market," said Rightmove commercial director Miles Shipside.

"It is wrong, however, to speculate that prices will continue to fall based on one month's statistics from a quiet December," Mr Shipside added.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has previously warned that Hips would have a detrimental effect on the property market, though others have suggested that the initial furore will eventually die down.

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