Rightmove says the average price of newly-marketed homes dipped 1.1 per cent this month - the equivalent of £4,159 - to £366,999.
This monthly price drop is exactly in line with the average 1.1 per cent that Rightmove recorded in November during the pre-pandemic years of 2015 to 2019, and so should not be regarded in isolation as a negative indicator.
However there are signs that more existing sellers, whose properties were already on the market and unsold, are willing to take agent recommendations and reduce prices to achieve a quicker sale.
The proportion of unsold properties seeing a price reduction has increased only slightly from the pre-pandemic 7.5 per cent in October 2019 to 8.0 per cent this October.
It has doubled from the figure of four per cent in the frenzied market of October 2021. However demand is still performing better than it was during the more normal market of 2019, but Rightmove says it is clear that we have returned to a much more price-sensitive housing market after two years of a buying frenzy.
Tim Bannister - Rightmove’s Director of Property Science - says: “The plethora of predictions about what might happen to prices next year comes at a time when much is still uncertain, but what is certain is that the exceptional price growth of the last two years is unsustainable against the economic headwinds and growing affordability constraints.
“Home-owners who come to market in the final few months of the year tend to price lower to attract buyers in the lead-up to Christmas, and we’re hearing from agents that both existing and new sellers understand that to sell in the current market they need to price competitively.
“During the market frenzy many agents said that they had to rip up the rule-book on valuing properties due to bidding wars, but now they’re back in more familiar territory, and pricing right first time is even more critical to securing a quick sale.”
He continues: “The now largely superseded mini-budget sped up the slowing of market activity that we had been seeing since the summer, and we’re now in another state of limbo as we wait for any surprises or help in Jeremy Hunt’s Autumn Statement on Thursday.
“The frenzied market of the past two years has turned into a more normal market more abruptly and less smoothly than we were expecting. Though many are getting on with moves, especially those with a purchase already agreed, understandably there are people who are pausing for thought.
“Some buyers have decided to turn their attention to Christmas instead, and be part of the New Year jump in home-moving activity. There’s a group who are ready and able to move and are waiting on the side-lines for more financial certainty.
“Then there’s a group of first-time buyers or people hoping to trade up who were already stretching themselves financially and may now have had their plans dashed. It’s important to note that there isn’t a glut of unsold properties, and the average number of enquirers for the low number of available properties for sale is still over a third higher than it was back in October 2019, which is helping to prevent any price falls by more than is usual at this time of year.
“The era of historically low interest rates and the buying frenzy are over, which could make way for a more normal market that opens up potential opportunities for those who were put off entering the frantic market over the past two years.”
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It's not a lose until you sell, and if the sale price is more than you paid for it it's not a real loss at all.
Loss?
Yes alright Bill, I never had much of an education, school teachers were sh1t at the local secondary modern in the 60s, still not much better today, I've edited it
Andrew I for one don’t take any notice of things like that and I do similar myself and I don’t place that much important on the odd spelling, the content is what matters and will still be understood, if not they wouldn’t be much good at cluedo. What’s a Secondary Modern ?.
What's a secondary modern ? it's a sh1t school that those of us that failed the 11+ went to, most of my friends from those days have done very well in the REAL world
This is PR for Rightmove. New builds often are put on market at lower price this time of year, for obvious reasons. Another non story. Other sellers will be encouraged by agents to be competitive.
I do think that spelling and grammar are important, though it is human to make mistakes. I also appreciate that it is not important to others.
The need for individuals to correct others often tells you more about the person doing the correction than the person whom made the error. If made in good faith then no problem.
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