House sellers' asking prices fell steeply by 2.9% month-on-month to £262,401 typically in August as the mood of the market grows calmer in London in particular, website Rightmove has reported.

The dip as sellers adopt a "summer sales" attitude is the largest for the month of August that Rightmove has on its records, which go back more than a decade.

Asking prices in London saw the largest monthly drop across England and Wales, with average prices in the capital standing at £552,783, which is 5.9% lower than in July.

Despite the drop, asking prices in the capital are still 10.3% higher than they were a year ago. The North was the only region to see asking prices increase month-on-month, with a 0.5% uplift pushing them to £149,354 typically; and in Wales, prices edged down by 2.0% month-on-month to reach £173,176 on average.

Rightmove said the figures reflect sellers adopting a "summer sales attitude to pricing", in the knowledge that potential buyers tend to be thinner on the ground during the holiday season, before activity lifts again in the autumn.

Alongside these seasonal factors, Rightmove also said that recent speculation about the prospect of interest rates rising, more properties coming up for sale and toughened mortgage lending rules are likely to be having an impact on the market.