Last checked at 
LONDON, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Asking prices for British homes
slipped by 0.6% this month as the market entered its usual lull
ahead of the Christmas holidays, but they are expected to resume
their rise next year, a survey showed on Monday.
Online property portal Rightmove said the average asking
price, which is not adjusted for seasonal variations, stood at
342,401 pounds ($459,057) in November - up 6.3% in annual terms.
Asking prices have fallen in each November since 2007 as the
market enters an end-of-year slowdown before activity picks up
again after the holidays.
"That is likely to push prices higher again, and increase
the competition from other buyers," said Tim Bannister,
Rightmove director of property data.
A survey of chartered surveyors last week showed house price
inflation in Britain picked up last month, propelled by a
shortage of sellers that also suggested further price rises lay
ahead.
Other surveys have similarly pointed to continued house
price growth since July when a year-long exemption from the
stamp duty tax on house purchases was halved in scale in England
and Northern Ireland and expired altogether in Wales.
Scotland ended the incentive in April and it expired in its
entirety in England and Northern Ireland at the end of
September.
($1 = 0.7459 pounds)
(Reporting by Andy Bruce
Editing by William Schomberg)
