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Asking prices, sales agreed and listing numbers fall year-on-year – Rightmove
Growth in average asking prices scraped in at 0.6 per cent in October compared to September, the lowest monthly rise since October 2008, analysis by Rightmove has shown.
The average asking price was £306,712 for the month, according to the estate agent, with the rate of growth a full percentage point below the monthly average of 1.6 per cent for October during the last 10 years.
On a yearly basis, average asking prices were 0.2 per cent lower compared to October 2018.
The softer pricing environment was good news for first-time buyers, for whom average prices fell by 0.8 per cent monthly to £190,740. On a yearly basis, the first-time buyer price was up 0.1 per cent.
The average number of new property listings fell to 24,539 a week, down by 13.5 per cent against October 2018.
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And the number of sales agreed was down 0.5 per cent compared to a year ago.
“While the number of buyers has held up so far, the lack of new property listings coming to market may reduce the number of purchases in the coming months because there will be less choice of available properties,” Rightmove said.
Positive attitude
However, it noted one positive characteristic of the current market was that the proportion of sales agreed that later fall through has been the lowest this year since 2015.
“It’s a good time to sell. Sellers who are ignoring Brexit disruption have less competition. And prospective buyers, with a reduced choice of suitable alternatives, have less negotiating power,” said Miles Shipside, director and housing market analyst at Rightmove.
Estate agents also interpreted the data positively.
“We’re seeing fewer tyre-kickers, with only the serious buyers and sellers entering the fray, which has resulted in a reduction in number of sales falling through. A positive from the current climate,” said Marc von Gundherr, director of lettings and estate agency at Benham and Reeves.
Nick Leeming, chairman of Jackson-Stops, said that, once the UK had exited the European Union, he expected “to see an increase in listings and activity levels, with the prospect of a modest uplift in prices in the New Year”.