Average Price
The average asking price of a newly-listed homes coming to the market for sale this month is £364,999.
The number of available homes for sale is at a 12-year high for this time of year. When combined with the traditionally quiet summer holiday period, this has led to lower price expectations from sellers who have decided to come to market at this time of year, despite the lower volume of active buyers.
Encouragingly, it appears that these sellers are taking the advice of both estate agents and Rightmove, and entering the market at competitive prices, giving themselves a much higher probability of selling. The average asking price for a home is now 1.0% lower than at this time last year.
The northern regions of England have actually seen average new seller asking prices increase by 1.5% versus last year, while the southern regions of England have seen prices drop by 1.8%.
Supply & Demand
Rightmove has recorded a mini-bounce of +5% in buyer demand since Andy Burnham came to power on the 20th July. Comparatively, last summer saw a drop of 2% over the same period. The new Prime Minster has brought a general boost to optimism and has definitively ruled out property tax changes in October’s Budget, meaning buyers have fewer reasons to wait around and see what happens.
While it is still early days, it gives some encouragement that after a subdued summer, where several heatwaves and the World Cup provided added distractions, the market could see a busier than usual Autumn.
Interest Rates
Rightmove’s daily mortgage tracker shows that the average two-year fixed mortgage rate is now 5.09%, up from 4.95% last month. However, there are signs that there is room for some downwards movement in rates over the coming weeks.
The changing picture for mortgage rates, alongside geopolitical uncertainty and the new Chancellor’s first Budget in October, highlights how uncertain the market is right now.
The current base rate set by the Bank of England stands at 3.75%, with the next meeting due on the 17th of September.
Regional Trends: North East
The average price for homes in the North East is £198,109 with a 0.6% month-on-month increase and a 1.7% 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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