Properties are selling for £12,000 below their original asking price as buyers continue to benefit from a slump to house prices as the market weakens.
The average discount to the asking price is now 4.2 per cent, according to data published by the property website Zoopla. This rises to 4.8 per cent in London and the South East.
As a result of buyers accepting they have to lower their asking prices to sell and mortgage rates starting to fall, enquiries for people to view properties rose by 12 per cent in September compared with the previous month. This led to discounts reaching their highest level since March 2019.
While an increase after August, a time when many are on their summer holidays, is to be expected, agents report that it remains a buyers’ market and home sellers have finally accepted the need to drop their prices. This has meant more buyers are happy to proceed. There are now 80 per cent more homes for sale than in September 2021.
However, mortgage rates still remain high compared to two years ago when people could get rates for as low as 1 per cent. The average two-year fix is 6.53 per cent while the rate for a five-year one is 6.03 per cent, according to the analytics firm Moneyfacts.
Some experts believe that average rates will fall below 5 per cent within six to nine months, although some providers including Nationwide, HSBC and Santander, all have rates below this already.
Zoopla added it expects the number of buyers to increase once mortgage rates get below 4.5 per cent.
Nick Mendes, of brokers John Charcol, told i: “This is still a buyers’ market for the moment. It is no longer an environment where sellers can set a price knowing that it will likely to be met.”
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