Rightmove says that while much of the housing market is carrying on regardless, some higher end potential vendors are now sitting on their hands.

In the weeks since the surprise election announcement, the number of top-end sellers coming to market is 3% lower than a year ago, versus being 11% higher in the previous two-week period. 

“Some potential sellers appear to be watching and waiting rather than taking action, evidenced by a dip in the number of new sellers coming to market, particularly at the top-end” explains portal spokesperson Tim Bannister. 

“This is understandable when many of these sellers have more flexibility over when they act, but overall, it appears to be business as usual for the mass-market.”

The portal’s latest asking price index shows the average price coming to the market for sale drops by £21 this month to £375,110 after reaching a record high in May. Less expensive and more northerly regions are seeing stronger price growth this month, with five of the six cheapest regions reaching new price records while the higher-priced East of England and London lag behind.

Over the last four weeks, the number of sales being agreed is some 6% higher than a year ago; buyer demand appears relatively stable and is now 5% higher than last year. 

Rightmove’s latest index makes a point of saying that stubbornly high mortgage rates continue to stretch affordability, with many future movers likely to have a closer eye on when the first Bank of England rate cut might be, rather than pre-election housing market promises.

The average five-year fixed mortgage rate is now 5.04%, compared with 4.94% in January