House asking prices fall by £6,000 in November, according to Rightmove

According to Rightmove, asking prices for new homes fell by 1.7 percent this month, the biggest fall in November since 2018.

The fall represents an average fall of £6,088 in the price of newly listed homes in November compared to October.

Asking prices tend to fall at this time of year as serious sellers price more competitively to attract distracted buyers in the run-up to Christmas.

The decline in November this year is the biggest in five years, indicating that new sellers are starting to accept that many buyers are currently at risk from higher mortgage rates.

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Tim Bannister, director of real estate at Rightmove, said: ‘We expect to see a fall in asking prices from new sellers in the last few months of the year as serious sellers start to separate themselves from discretionary sellers and break into the market. Christmas sound with attractive price to secure a buyer.

‘However, the larger than usual decline this month indicates that, given the usual seasonal pricing, we are starting to see more new sellers heed the advice of their agents and enter the market with more attractive prices to differentiate themselves from their peers. overly optimistic competition.

‘There are still buyers, but for many the affordability has been greatly reduced due to higher mortgage rates.

‘The chances of landing a buyer are much better if they price it right the first time, rather than setting prices too high and lowering the price later.’

What does this mean for the market?

Asking prices for houses have both risen and fallen in the past year.

If we compare the asking price of November 2023 with the same period last year, the decrease is only 1.3 percent.

However, Rightmove data also shows signs of a struggling market, as average mortgage rates remain around six percent.

Houses are taking much longer to sell, the number of transactions has fallen and buyers are negotiating with large discounts on the final asking price.

Tough market: According to Rightmove, this year’s fall in newly quoted asking prices is the biggest fall in November in five years

Slow Market: The average time it takes for homes to go under listing once they hit the market is 62 days. That’s an increase from 40 days this time last year

The average time it takes for homes to go under listing once they hit the market is 62 days, according to Rightmove, compared to 40 days this time last year.

On average, 35 percent of homes for sale on Rightmove this year have seen a reduction in asking price after being put up for sale. That’s compared to 20 percent in the same period last year.

The real estate portal says the current average price drop is about 6.3 percent. This time last year it was 5.8 percent.

Looking at the average discount on the final asking price versus the sales price, Rightmove says it currently averages around 4 percent.

While house prices show a slight decline, it is sales volumes that are collapsing.

In its latest report, Rightmove says the number of sales agreed is 10 percent lower than at this time in 2019 – describing what it sees as a more normal market.

Total transactions fell by 17 per cent in the 12 months to September, according to HMRC figures.

According to Zoopla’s latest house price index, the housing market is on track for 1 million sales by 2023, which represents a decline of 23 percent on last year.

Alex Lyle, director of estate agency Antony Roberts in Richmond-upon-Thames, says sellers need to set realistic asking prices to attract buyers in this market.

He says: ‘There is good stock available, but everything coming onto the market now needs to be priced at the right level as demand in terms of inquiries is not as high as it was at the start of the year.

‘We are all about confidence and two successive rate cuts are very welcome as they help buyers plan for the future.

‘Transactions take time and negotiations can take a long time. But there are opportunities for buyers who have the courage not to sit on the fence with a fall window where competition is more moderate and sellers more realistic.”

What do the sold house prices do?

Unfortunately, there is no perfect index that allows us to fully interpret what house prices are doing.

There is also the added complication that property prices behave very differently from local area to local area.

The Land Registry index is perhaps the most reliable, as it is based on completed house sales, but the data is therefore many months behind. There has not yet been a decline in house prices on an annual basis.

But home prices have fallen 3.2 percent in the past year, according to mortgage lender Halifax’s October home price index.

This is purely based on your own mortgage applications and therefore represents a small part of all sales. It also excludes cash purchases from buyers, which represent one in three transactions this year.

According to Halifax, a typical British home now costs £281,974, around £3,000 more than last month, but more than £9,000 less than the same period last year

The Rics housing market survey takes the temperature of Rics’ broker members and provides a snapshot of what is currently happening in the property market.

The latest poll showed that homebuyer activity was still under pressure in October due to higher mortgage rates.

It also suggested that house prices continued to be on a downward trajectory nationally, with the majority of respondents reporting falling prices and also expecting house prices to fall further over the next three to 12 months.

Other forecasts remain bleak in the short term. Halifax expects home prices to decline in the longer term. This echoes similar statements recently made by Lloyds Bank.

Property group JLL said property prices across Britain will have fallen by 6 percent by the end of 2023 and by 3 percent the year after.

Property agent Savills predicts that house prices will bottom out next year, falling by a ‘modest’ 3 percent before rising again.