The asking price of homes coming to the market this month is down 1.7 per cent on October according to Rightmove. 

The portal says there’s typically a seasonal fall in asking prices in November but this month’s drop is the largest in five years, indicating that new sellers are also increasingly adopting more realistic price expectations from the outset of marketing to tempt potential buyers to act. 

Rightmove’s housing expert Tim Bannister says: “We’d expect to see a drop in new seller asking prices in the last couple of months of the year, as serious sellers start to separate themselves from discretionary sellers and cut through the Christmas noise with an attractive price to secure a buyer. 

“However, the larger than usual drop this month signals that among the usual pricing seasonality, we are starting to see more new sellers heed their agents’ advice and come to market with more enticing prices to stand out from their over-optimistic competition. 

“Buyers are still out there, but for many their affordability is much reduced due to higher mortgage rates. It now looks like more sellers are understanding Rightmove’s research; that the chances of securing a buyer are much greater if they price right the first time, rather than over-pricing and reducing their price later.”

Bannister says the year to date has been better than many expected. 

Asking prices have eased from the unsustainably frothy heights seen during the pandemic markets, where many sales went to best and final bids. 

However, new seller asking prices are now just three per cent behind May’s peak and this relatively small fall in asking prices, coupled with stable numbers of new properties coming to the market each month, are strong indicators that forced sales are not widespread.

The number of sales being agreed is now 10 per cent below the same period in 2019, improving from being 15 per cent below 2019’s level last month. 

The portal believes the pandemic-driven stock shortage also now appears to be over, with the number of available homes for sale now just one per cent behind this time in 2019. While there is certainly no glut of homes for sale, buyers across the country are likely to see much more choice in their local area compared to a year ago.