RIGHTMOVE RECORDS MORE THAN 3,000 DAILY ASKING PRICE CUTS

Home sellers cut asking prices on more than 3,000 properties a day in Britain during September, according to Rightmove. The property website said the daily average was the highest for any month in 15 years. Rightmove put the average reduction at nearly 7%, or about £21,000 for a typically priced home. It said 34% of listed homes had a price cut, compared with a recent peak of 36% in September 2023. “In a market with so much choice, first impressions matter,” said Colleen Babcock of Rightmove.

Rightmove said homes with a price reduction took an average of 119 days to find a buyer, compared with 39 days for homes sold without one. Zoopla said the number of homes for sale in September was 5% higher than a year earlier, while agreed sales were 9% lower. Its data showed that a quarter of homes newly listed that month had appeared for sale within the previous year. Zoopla said buyers were more selective as they sought to keep mortgage payments affordable. Rightmove put the average two-year fixed mortgage rate at 5.55%, up from 5.29% a month earlier.

Rightmove estimated that the rise in mortgage rates since February had added about £250 a month to a typical new mortgage. It said new sellers reduced asking prices in October in four of Britain’s five lowest-priced regions. The North East recorded a monthly fall of 2%, followed by Scotland at 1.9%, the North West at 0.6% and Wales at 0.3%, according to Rightmove. Yorkshire and the Humber recorded a 0.3% increase. Across Britain, Rightmove said the average asking price rose 1% in October to £371,015.