Average Price
Average new seller asking prices drop by a seasonal 1.3% (-£4,969) this month to £368,740. August’s price drop is in line with the previous ten-year average, returning to seasonal trends.
While the right property at the right price is still finding a buyer, evidenced by the high number of agreed sales, it appears that some sellers are still coming to market with a too-high initial price, shown by more than one in three homes seeing a price reduction during marketing.
Supply & Demand
The number of sales being agreed is now 8% higher than at this time last year, with lower asking prices and good buyer choice combining to drive higher than usual sales activity for this time of year.
The number of available homes for sale is 10% higher than at this time last year, keeping the volume of homes for sale at a decade high. However, the number of new properties coming onto the market for sale is now only 4% ahead of this time last year, potentially an early sign of overall supply levels starting to slowly reduce, particularly with strong sales activity.
Interest Rates
The Bank of England has reduced the base rate for the third time this year.
Rightmove’s daily mortgage tracker shows that buyer affordability has also been improving, with the average two-year fixed mortgage rate now 4.49%, compared with 5.17% at this time last year. This equates to a saving of £117 per month for someone taking out a two-year fixed mortgage on the average home, based on having a 20% deposit and spreading the mortgage over 30 years.
Rightmove expects some further small mortgage rate reductions over the next few weeks but no major drops.
The current base rate stands at 4%, with the next meeting due on the 6th of September.
Regional Trends: North East
The average price for homes in the North East is £194,799 with a 1.0 decrease, and a 1.1% increase since the same period last year. On average, it takes 52 days to sell a property in the North East region.
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Source: Rightmove
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