The UK housing market is seeing its most severe rate of reduction in more than a decade with high interest rates rumoured to be the cause of deterring demand for property this summer.
Rightmove have reported that the proportion of properties that have been reduced has reached a peak level not seen since January 2011. This statistic sees more than 36% of properties on the market having had at least one reduction in order for sellers to draw interest.
The increase in reductions collates to a mixture of interest rate rises and overall lower activity in the housing market due to the nature of the summer holidays. Rightmove have stated that the number of new instructions reaching their platform is 6% lower than the 10-year average.
In turn this has led to the highest national reduction average since January 2011 of 6.2% equating to reductions of more than £22,000 off asking prices.
“The combination of 14 consecutive Bank of England interest rate rises and many buyers and sellers still catching up on lost pandemic holidays has contributed to a bigger than expected summer lull, though we still anticipate an autumn bounce.” said Tim Bannister, Rightmove’s Director of Property Science.
Mortgage rates continuing to decline speaks of promise for the close of 2023 as Rightmove suggests the average five-year fixed rates across all loan-to-value ratios are down 5.67% from the peak in July this year of 6.11%. With the market seeming to stabilise coupled with increased spending power of buyers we are taking small but sure steps towards certainty within the market.
With stock levels remaining low and taking into account the projected autumn bounce now is definitely a good time to consider selling. If you are looking for any advice or have questions about this article, please contact Prime Residential on 01904 202820 or info@prime-resi.com, where a member of the property team will be happy to offer further insight or advice.
